Pax Silica in the Philippines

What it really is, and how it affects the land, the people, the economy, and resources.

Report summary

This report examines the proposed Pax Silica semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing zone in New Clark City, Philippines. It covers investment and jobs projections, Aeta community land concerns, environmental assessment, and power and water requirements, distinguishing plans and targets from commitments.

Report period: . See the source list for the reports and statements referenced.

Part 1 — What really is Pax Silica: AI data center or chip facility?

Short answer

It's a chip facility, not an AI data center. Think factory park where chips and electronics parts get made, not a giant building full of computers running AI.

What it is

Pax Silica is a US-led group of allied countries, started December 2025. The goal is simple: make chips, AI parts, and important minerals without depending on China.

The Philippines joined as the 13th member on April 16, 2026. Our offer: about 1,620 hectares in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac as an “Economic Security Zone” — just a fancy term for a special industrial park.

It’s not one company or one building. It’s a planned factory zone.

So is it a data center?

No. Some early news reports called it an “AI data center,” but officials corrected that. BCDA chief Joshua Bingcang said it will host semiconductor and advanced manufacturing — “not a data processing center.” SEIPI president Dan Lachika was blunter: “There will be no hyperscalers in Pax Silica” (hyperscalers = giant data-center operators).

Under the official plan, no large-scale AI data center will operate in Clark — the “AI” refers to what the chips made here will be used for elsewhere.

What will they actually make there?

Mainly chips and electronics hardware:

  • Chip design and advanced packaging — moving beyond our current assembly-and-testing work
  • A small pilot wafer fab lab — basically a test factory for making chips
  • Electronics and AI hardware parts
  • Processing of critical minerals — but that part may sit near mining areas like Mindanao, not Clark. No mining is planned inside the Clark zone itself.

Where and how big

New Clark City, inside the Luzon Economic Corridor connecting Subic, Clark, Manila, and Batangas. Around 1,620 hectares.

Jobs and money claims vs. reality

At full build-out, projections are big: $40–70 billion in investment and 130,000–190,000 direct jobs.

Reality check: UP researchers warn there are no disclosed investor commitments yet. These are targets, not signed deals.

Power and water in plain terms

A fully built zone would need about 3 GW — roughly 16% of what Luzon uses today. Plan is dedicated supply: 500 MW solar, a studied 1.2 GW gas plant, plus wind and geothermal.

Water need is about 120 million liters per day, expandable to 300 million, planned to come from surface water and recycling.

Where things stand now

As of November 2026, the April signing is non-binding — more promise than contract. A binding agreement is drafted and with Malacañang. Timeline discussed: negotiations in 2026, planning in 2027, construction from early 2028. No environmental permit application as of August 2026. The Senate is asking questions, and there are protests, including from Indigenous groups.

Part 1 takeaway

Pax Silica in Clark is a proposed chip-and-factory park, not an AI data center. If it happens, it could move the Philippines up from assembling chips to designing and making more advanced parts — with big jobs and investment if investors actually come. Right now, though, it’s still a plan on paper, not yet a construction site.

Part 2 — How it affects the land, the people, the economy, and resources

Quick context: the Philippines signed a non-binding declaration on April 16, 2026 to join this U.S.-led chip hub plan. The site is about 1,620 hectares in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac. Nothing binding is signed yet, there is no anchor investor, and no factory would open before 2028. So everything big below is still a projection, not a done deal.

Land: whose land is it?

The government manager, BCDA, says the land is public, titled to BCDA for industrial use, with no formal ancestral title there. It points out 15,000+ hectares elsewhere in Clark are set aside for Indigenous peoples.

But about 1,000 Aetas — reported variably as ~75 households / ~300 families — from the Hungey / Sitio Sapang Kawayan community live and farm inside that footprint, with burial and prayer grounds. They have sought ancestral title since 1994 and still don’t have it. One geographer found 3 or more Aeta villages sitting under planned construction areas.

In July 2026, BCDA sent letters warning the project “could affect” their occupied lands. Residents say staff verbally told them to leave by December for a site about 16 km away, with no map shown. An offer of P30 per square meter — about P300,000 per hectare — was unanimously declined. As one resident put it: land matters more; money runs out.

BCDA counts only about 40 structures and 200 residents on about 10 hectares. The community says those numbers are old. Senate records also cite 266 farmers on BCDA land still to be resolved. BCDA declined to answer case questions and rejected a request to release the boundary map.

EIA gap: EIA means Environmental Impact Assessment — the study required before a big project can be approved. DENR says no project-specific EIA for Pax Silica has even been applied for. The only clearance, called an ECC, covers the general New Clark City plan. Each future factory must file its own.

People: jobs promise vs. questions

The headline promise for full build-out over 10–15+ years: $40–70 billion invested, 130,000–190,000 direct jobs plus 500,000–800,000 indirect jobs, $200 billion a year in exports, with 90% of jobs for Filipinos. One political claim goes as high as 1 million jobs and double-digit economic growth. No investor has committed to any headcount.

Critics — scientist Giovanni Tapang, ex-Finance official Cielo Magno, and IBON — warn these numbers mix short-term construction work with permanent posts, the best slots may go to imported workers, and there are no binding rules on tech transfer or Filipino hiring ratios.

Pushback is visible. The Network Opposed to Pax Silica launched August 31, 2026, uniting Aetas, farmers, scientists, church, students, and Bayan. They demand land recognition, livelihood protection, water and energy safeguards, transparency, and sovereignty. UP Manila students planned walkouts Nov. 12–18 around the Trump visit.

At an August 14 Senate hearing, senators backed the goal but demanded water and power plans, community consent, and published terms. Capas Mayor Roseller Rodriguez testified no real consultation happened — only a vague June 22 briefing invited by text.

Economy: money claims vs. reality

The hub is meant to anchor the Luzon Economic Corridor — Subic–Clark–Manila–Batangas. The sequence is: advanced manufacturing first, then chip design, with mineral processing later, likely near Dinagat/Agusan, not Clark.

Investor reality: only Foxconn is named as a possible anchor, still in due diligence. About 20+ firms have “expressed interest.” Zero signed commitments as of Nov. 7.

Researchers at UP-CIDS warn just putting factories side-by-side is not upgrading. Assembly work improves processes by default, but real upgrading needs deliberate policy. They cite Intel Cavite, 1997–2009, which ended with 1,800 laid off, and demand enforceable tech transfer, phasing tied to signed spending, and open job data.

On incentives: CREATE MORE is the tax-break law, plus 99-year leases under RA 12252. BCDA says ownership stays with the Philippines. But Sen. Imee Marcos flagged a leaked draft giving a foreign “master tenant” 40% effective control — raising sovereignty questions.

Resources: power and water in plain terms

Chip factories run 24/7 and are thirsty for power and water.

Power: full build-out needs about 3 gigawatts continuously — roughly 16% of Luzon’s whole grid. Some talk goes up to 5 GW. The plan is separate off-grid supply: 500 MW of solar + batteries with Saudi ACWA Power (~$200M), a 1.2 GW LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant plus a Subic–Clark pipeline under study, and wind/geothermal talks. Critics say sun and wind can’t carry a 24/7 factory, so it would fall back on LNG or diesel, with pollution and high electricity-rate risks.

Water: BCDA’s figures shifted from 65–90 MLD (million liters per day) to 120 MLD initially, expandable to 300 MLD. Current New Clark City uses ~3 MLD with ~20 MLD available — so the project is ~22–100x current use, ~3–15x current available supply. The plan is no groundwater; use surface water, rain harvesting, reservoirs, ~70% recycling, possibly desalination. Critics note the Sacobia watershed has been drying since 2020, El Niño can cut rainfall 40–60%, reservoirs of 390–780 hectares plus 20,000 hectares of solar could take farmland that feeds 250,000–600,000 people, and chip wastewater carries heavy-metal risk without strict treatment.

Part 2 takeaway

Today’s verified picture: titled-but-occupied land, ~1,000 Aetas in the footprint plus 266 farmers on BCDA land still awaiting resolution, refused offers, no project EIA, senators demanding consultations, and power and water plans still mostly on paper except a 500 MW solar start. The big jobs and money figures are decades-long projections with no signed tenant behind them yet.

Sources