AI data center pitch in Oton ends in insults, walkout

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan and Rjay Zuriaga Castor

OTON, Iloilo — A public consultation on a proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data center here broke down on Friday, Aug. 14, after the Norwegian proponent walked out of the venue and then hurled insults and legal threats at journalists covering the event.

Daniel Stefan Robertsen presented a plan under Norway Green Energy to build a 50-megawatt (MW) hyperscale AI data center, which would have been the first of its kind in Western Visayas.

The consultation was organized by the Sangguniang Bayan of Oton in partnership with the barangay council of Abilay Sur.

The proposed 10-hectare campus would have been situated mostly in Abilay Sur, but its development would also have affected other barangays, including Abilay Norte, Cagbang, Lambuyao, Pakiad, Pulo Maestra Vita, and Tuburan, as well as other areas along Radial Road R1.

Robertsen said the project would follow similar Norway Green Energy developments in Abu Dhabi and New Zealand.

The hearing was called by the barangay council of Abilay Sur and chaired by the Committee on Zoning, Building, Infrastructure, and Urbanization, sitting as a Committee of the Whole. It ran for an hour and a half before Robertsen walked out during the question-and-answer portion of his presentation.

Robertsen was visibly irate while responding to the only question asked during the hearing, raised by Sangguniang Bayan member Annie Rose Paro, on how the facility would treat and use water.

Paro sought to clarify the facility’s water requirements, an issue that has driven opposition to AI data centers in other countries, particularly the United States.

“Let’s put it very straight, I am a data center developer. I developed many data centers in Europe. I do that for you. If you don’t want it. I don’t need it. I am stable [financial], I am not doing it for profit,” he said.

“Fine, let us stop the discussion. I wish you good luck,” he added.

An attendee standing about two meters from Robertsen then interjected and voiced her opposition to the proposal.

“We don’t want it. We just don’t want it for the future of our children and our economy,” she said.

Her remark preceded Robertsen’s decision to leave the venue.

“If you don’t want it, I don’t want it either. I am not forcing somebody to build the data center. I am not here to convince you. Let me say this, if you think that the data center is something toxic and you don’t want it, then let us stop the discussion now,” he said.

When approached by the media for an interview minutes after the walkout, Robertsen hurled expletives and threatened to file charges.

“If you don’t have brain, just f*ck, go away,” he said.

“Do you know [the] Filipino privacy law? You are not allowed to take pictures of me. If you do that, I will take you [to] the court of the judge,” he added.

Residents disrespected

Sangguniang Bayan member Ma. Lorna Geonigo said she was disappointed by the abrupt exit, adding that she had wanted more clarity on the proposal.

“Ogtonganons don’t deserve that. We set up a public hearing because of their proposal to put up business here. But they have walked out, so it is not good for [us],” Geonigo said.

“There were still a lot of concerns that we should’ve tackled. This project entails high water [and] electricity consumption [and] high carbon emissions, [which] are problems of the environment. We already have problems with waste disposal, how are we going to address carbon emissions? The heat and noise levels?” she added.

Rodel Taton, a lawyer, dean of the Graduate School of Law of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, and an Oton resident, said the proposal should be junked as a result of the walkout.

“This person [Robertsen] has been violating this public hearing, which is a regular process of the Sangguniang Bayan, and if the person who is a proponent of this project leaves this public hearing which is supposed to be part of the legislative process, then what can we expect?” Taton said during the hearing.

“If they cannot stand some questions here, they do not deserve to be in Oton. If anything, Ogtonganons are not supposed to be brought about by threats. Because if they cannot act properly, how much more with their projects,” he added.

Oton Vice Mayor Jose Neil Olivares, who chairs the town council’s Committee of the Whole with all Sangguniang Bayan members sitting as committee members, said the walkout signaled that Robertsen would no longer pursue the project.

“If he walks out, that means he is withdrawing his proposal. We see it in bad taste. Supposedly he should be gentleman enough to answer questions because he is the one proposing. He should present,” he said.

Olivares said the conduct of the Norwegian national would be one of the bases of the committee report to be drafted next week.

“We will decide and render the committee report because his walk out is a sign of withdrawal for his proposal,” he added.

The vice mayor said he was offended, noting that it appeared “he snubbed the Ogtonganon.”

He said the public hearing was meant to give residents a chance to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of hosting a technology facility in their community.

“We also want to be clarified. There are so many details that we need to know because this is new. That is why we invited all stakeholders to thresh out and discuss all issues for us to be guided on [how] this will be treated,” he said.

Jay Cerbaña Magullado, Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson of Barangay Abilay Sur, said he was shocked by Robertsen’s conduct, noting that the proponent should have expected critical questions.

“He does not deserve to be here and his project should not be here or anywhere in the Philippines,” he said, adding that he felt “disrespected.”

Magullado, an ex officio member of the Sangguniang Barangay, said the council may draft a resolution rejecting any proposal from Robertsen.

Daily Guardian sought information on Robertsen’s purported company, Norway Green Energy, but basic web searches yielded no relevant details.

A check of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Check With SEC portal also returned no results.

Details presented by Robertsen showed that Norway Green Energy maintains a physical office at a condominium in Mandurriao, Iloilo City. He also said he has been living in the city since September 2024.

Daily Guardian likewise obtained information that Robertsen intended to buy land in Santa Barbara, Iloilo, for the same purpose.

What is in the proposal?

The public hearing was held inside a chapel, a setting Robertsen said made his proposal “more spiritual and more beneficial.”

Robertsen opened his presentation by saying he intended to clear up misconceptions about the project and would give residents the chance to raise concerns directly.

“I will present a power presentation regarding the data center project that I am intending to develop. When I am finished, you are here to ask me questions […] We will clarify a couple of misunderstandings because I read some comments are rumors that are entirely lacking in information,” he said.

Robertsen said the facility aimed to position Western Visayas as a strategic computing hub for artificial intelligence and to attract global technology companies and hyperscale cloud providers to the region.

“Trust me the project is not just for me, it is for you and the new generation, in fact. It is for the future,” he said.

The project would initially require 10 MW of power before expanding in phases to its full 50-MW capacity.

The 10-hectare campus was designed to meet international Tier III and Tier IV standards and to accommodate high-density computing infrastructure, which Robertsen said would ensure the facility is environmentally compliant.

He said the facility would feature server racks capable of handling workloads ranging from 30 to 50 kilowatts (kW) per rack, along with advanced cooling systems that reduce water and energy waste.

A key component of the proposal is a dedicated, developer-funded substation with a 69-kilovolt (kV) or 115-kV interconnection, which Robertsen said would support the campus’s power requirements while improving the stability and resilience of the local ILECO I grid.

The proposed facility was designed to operate continuously, with a targeted load factor of more than 95%.

Robertsen said the round-the-clock demand profile could improve operational efficiency and revenue predictability for the power distributor, Iloilo I Electric Cooperative Inc. (ILECO I).

Under his roadmap, the project would be developed in phases, beginning with clearances and utility agreements in the second quarter of 2026.

Groundbreaking and construction were targeted for September 2026, followed by energization of the first 10-MW phase in the first quarter of 2027 and full 50-MW operations by the second quarter of 2028.

A 50-MW continuous load is substantial relative to the demand of a single electric cooperative franchise area, and the Panay grid has a recent history of instability, including the islandwide blackout of January 2024. Any facility of this scale would require a supply agreement, grid impact study, and connection approval beyond the local council’s authority.

Local government endorsement is only one step in the approval chain. A project of this size would ordinarily require a locational clearance consistent with the municipal zoning ordinance, an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau, and a water permit from the National Water Resources Board if it draws groundwater or surface water.

Water use is the central technical question Paro raised and the one left unanswered. Cooling designs vary widely: closed-loop and direct-to-chip liquid systems recirculate water and consume comparatively little, while evaporative systems consume large volumes continuously. The distinction determines whether a facility competes with agricultural and household users, and it is the detail a feasibility disclosure would need to specify.

On Robertsen’s claim that Philippine law bars journalists from photographing him, the Data Privacy Act of 2012, Republic Act 10173, contains an express exemption for information processed for journalistic purposes. Photographing a project proponent at a publicly convened hearing on a matter of public concern falls within that exemption.