Malacañang has assured the public the government is taking all precautions to safeguard national interests and ensure transparency in the Pax Silica initiative.
Under the program initiated by the United States to secure supply chains for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and critical minerals, a 4,000-acre industry hub will be built in New Clark City in Tarlac.
In a press briefing Monday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is committed to protecting the welfare of Filipinos and ensuring that the project complies with Philippine laws.
“The president assures that everything he does is in accordance with the law, and there will be no displacement of communities,” Castro said.
The framework agreement between the Philippines and the US for the land use is to be signed in November.
Critics online cite the project’s impact on national security, the environment, and the potential displacement of local communities.
Reports by local farmers in Capas, Tarlac claim that they are being asked to relocate to make way for the project.
The project is expected to consume more than 5 million gallons of water daily primarily for cooling systems to manage intense heat that will be generated.
To address these concerns, Castro said the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are working closely with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to oversee the project.
NWRB Executive Director Bill Sevilla said water sources in the project area are sufficient to meet demand without compromising the needs of surrounding communities.
Castro also noted that the project is being developed with strict adherence to environmental standards, from mining to manufacturing.
She also allayed fears of foreign control over the initiative, assuring the public that the Philippines will “maintain sovereignty.” Castro dismissed the claim that farmers will be displaced, saying “the President’s heart lies with the farmers — they are his priority when it comes to food security.” House Assistant Minority Leader Renee Co believes, however, that the Pax Silica framework would displace farmers, agricultural workers, and Dumagat indigenous communities in Central Luzon.
In a statement on Monday, Co said Pax Silica would increase the extraction of high-purity silica sand and quartz in Zambales and Tarlac, to the detriment of local communities and agricultural lands.
“This predatory framework will only worsen and rationalize the environmental plunder and territorial strip-mining already happening across Central Luzon,” Co said. “To clear the path for this foreign hub, local farmers, agricultural workers, and Dumagat indigenous communities are actively being driven off their lands — completely dismantling local food security and weaponizing the state apparatus to serve foreign capital.” Co also criticized what she described as generous incentives for foreign companies, alleging that the government was prepared to grant multinational firms multi-year rent holidays, tax exemptions, and guaranteed profit repatriation while neglecting education, agriculture, and social services.
“The Marcos administration even has the nerve to grant multi-year rent holidays, sweeping tax exemptions, and guaranteed profit repatriations to wealthy assembly giants like Foxconn, while our youth are deprived of education, and our own food producers are starved, dispossessed, and sacrificed on the altar of foreign technological supremacy,” she said.
Co questioned the administration’s spending priorities, insisting that government resources should instead be directed toward state universities and colleges, local industries, and essential public services instead of projects linked to foreign investments.
