By Renato Reyes, Jr. / President, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
In April this year, when we first learned of the Philippines joining the Pax Silica initiative and the establishment of an economic zone in Luzon, public engagement on the issue was confined to the usual activist circles. It wasn’t the hottest topic in town, and the concepts of imperialist war, plunder, and greed were not yet thoroughly exposed.
It is now August, nearly four months since the Philippines joined the initiative, and in that short period of time, Pax Silica has become one of the most talked-about issues, next to the impeachment trial of Sara Duterte. It has become a staple of news programs, commentaries, and, of course, protest actions. From relative obscurity, it is now the subject of national scrutiny. The public uproar was so loud that Malacañang had to hold a press briefing with the BCDA (Bases Conversion Development Authority) to debunk the so-called myths about Pax Silica — which were actually the valid concerns of the people regarding the economic zone.
What changed in the last four months?
The Pax Silica narrative of “development” and “technological innovation” collided with the harsh realities of a semi-feudal and semi-colonial Philippines. The narrative of an artificial intelligence boom collided with the situation of the real people who will be affected by the economic zone. The whole exposition genuinely emanated from the concrete conditions of our people, not from any sophisticated or staged PR campaign. The affected communities, activists on the ground, environmentalists, and scientists all weighed in on the issue.
What Malacañang and Washington underestimated is the massive gap between the rich and poor in the Philippines, the massive gap between mega-rich corporations and farmers and indigenous peoples, and the glaring injustice of having vast land and mineral resources while the majority are landless and poor.
The initial discussions involved the issue of land. The Philippine government is offering foreign corporations 1,600 hectares of Philippine land for production hubs that will sustain the U.S. supply chain. The issue was so simple that only the arrogant U.S. State Department could not understand it: the Philippines is an agricultural country, but farmers are landless; land is being converted for industrial and commercial use; food security is always threatened; and indigenous peoples and farmers are the first to be affected by any “development project.” That indigenous peoples and local farmers can be displaced by a massive AI hub for U.S. interests immediately sparked public outrage.
Discussions later included the huge environmental and energy cost of maintaining this industrial hub — specifically, the massive energy requirements of 3 gigawatts daily in a country where power rates are already high because of supply issues. Sobrang taas ng singil sa kuryente, pagkatapos ay hihigupin pa ng Pax Silica. Kulang na nga sa tubig, hihigop pa ng 65 million liters per day ang economic zone. The actual conditions of shortage eventually collided with the massive demands of the Pax Silica economic zone.
Then there were other issues, such as the critical minerals framework agreement with the U.S., which will allow foreign corporations to mine and then process critical minerals in the Philippines as part of the Pax Silica initiative. There were, once again, questions of displacement, environmental plunder, and how the waste from the economic zone would be disposed of, if ever.
Activists raised the issue that Pax Silica is for war production as the U.S. ramps up its drive to dominate the world and bomb countries asserting their national sovereignty using the AI technology that Pax Silica will provide. Progressive economists raised the issue of genuine development that is not tied to the economic needs of a superpower. Labor unions, which are keenly aware of labor conditions in other economic zones, raised the question of cheap labor and the right to unionize. Church leaders questioned the so-called developmental objectives of Pax Silica.
In the end, the all-important question “For whom?” became the standard for analyzing Pax Silica and its supposed benefits. The actual plight of our people became the undeniable consideration for any foreign corporate undertaking.
It is now August, four months since the Philippines joined Pax Silica. The answer to the all-import question has become ever clearer: It is for foreign corporations …