Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. condemned the alleged verbal harassment and profanities hurled by Norwegian national Daniel Stefan Robertsen at journalists who attempted to interview him following a public consultation in Oton, Iloilo on Friday, August 14.

In a brief statement released on Friday, Abalos described Robertsen’s behavior as “deplorable” after the managing director and developer of the proposed hyperscale artificial intelligence data center reportedly confronted members of the media following his walkout from the public consultation.

“His behavior is deplorable. Hindi mo dapat murahin o bastusin ang mga Pilipino, lalo na sa sarili naming bansa,” Abalos said.

“As a foreigner, he is expected to respect our people and our laws,” he added.

The incident occurred after Robertsen, the proponent of the proposed 50-megawatt (MW) hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Oton, walked out of a public consultation following strong opposition from local residents.

The proposed data center is planned on a 10-hectare property in Barangay Abilay Sur, where some residents raised concerns and expressed opposition to the project during the consultation.

After walking out of the consultation, Robertsen was approached by journalists for an interview. The encounter reportedly turned confrontational, with Robertsen telling the reporters, “If you don’t have brain, just f*ck, go away.”

“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.

The proposed 50-MW AI data center has drawn strong opposition from some residents, who voiced their concerns during the public consultation.