Daily Tribune
THE proposed Pax Silica economic security and AI-native industrial hub in the Philippines spans approximately 1,618 to 1,620 hectares, in a site located within New Clark City in Tarlac, part of the Luzon Economic Corridor. Once fully operational, its power requirement is estimated to be around 5 gigawatts of electricity demand.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of RTVM/FB
The proposed Pax Silica initiative could create as many as 500,000 digital and digital-related jobs as the Philippines positions itself to become a regional hub for artificial intelligence (AI), hyperscale data centers, and semiconductor manufacturing.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday night, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry R. Aguda said the agency is mapping out the technical groundwork for the project, including assessing the power requirements of hyperscale facilities and integrating Pax Silica into the national AI Infrastructure Master Plan.
"We provide technical assistance, such as determining the power requirements and how many gigawatts are needed to support a hyperscaler. The Philippine AI Master Plan is also under our responsibility, and Pax Silica is included in it," Aguda said.
"Pax Silica is actually a component of the overall AI Master Plan. Except that Pax Silica is not just about AI. It also includes chip manufacturing, along with other industries related to AI," he added.
The proposed 1,620-hectare hub in New Clark City is envisioned as the country's flagship AI and advanced manufacturing center and a key component of the Luzon Economic Corridor.
Aguda said the National Digital Connectivity Plan is another part of the project, as hyperscale data centers require robust international connectivity.
"The National Digital Connectivity Plan is the most important because we had to build the backbone. You cannot have hyperscalers in Pax Silica without international gateways connecting the country," he said.
According to Aguda, the Asian Development Bank prepared the Philippine AI Infrastructure Master Plan, which identified key requirements such as power, policy and digital infrastructure, along with three priority industrial corridors in Cagayan, Bataan-Pampanga and Batangas.
Pax Silica, however, will be centered in Clark, where the Bases Conversion and Development Authority serves as the lead agency.
He also sought to ease concerns over the project's power and water requirements, saying new generation capacity and planned energy projects would be sufficient to support both AI infrastructure and household demand.
He said coastal locations such as Batangas, Bataan and Cagayan are well suited for AI facilities because they can use seawater through desalination and recirculating cooling systems, while Clark can similarly utilize nearby river water through the same recycling technology.
"All of these considerations have already been studied. The concern is that communities might run out of drinking water, but that is not the case. We simply need to explain the technology better," he said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said it is drafting a dedicated power framework for Pax Silica to ensure the project's massive electricity requirements are met without compromising supply for households and businesses.
The agency is considering embedded generation, or dedicated power plants located within or near the hub, as the fastest way to energize hyperscale data centers.
