Sara clueless on Pax Silica debate
Data centers do not run on ambition alone. They require vast tracts of land, consume enormous amounts of electricity and use tremendous volumes of water to cool thousands of servers.
Text size
Data centers do not run on ambition alone. They require vast tracts of land, consume enormous amounts of electricity and use tremendous volumes of water to cool thousands of servers.
The cost of saying ‘no’
Every time the Philippines dreams bigger, someone immediately asks why we should.
I understand the concerns. Environmental protection matters. Transparency matters. Accountability matters. But I’ve also noticed that many of us have become experts at rejecting projects before we’ve even seen whether they can succeed.
For decades, we’ve complained about the lack of high-paying jobs, weak manufacturing and our dependence on imports. Now, when an opportunity to enter the global semiconductor industry emerges, the instinct is still to oppose.
Question it? Absolutely. Demand safeguards? Without a doubt.
But don’t confuse skepticism with progress.
If we keep saying “no” to every ambitious project, we shouldn’t be surprised when our best engineers leave, our factories remain empty and neighboring countries continue attracting the investments we turned away.
The real issue isn’t whether Pax Silica is perfect. No project ever is.
The issue is whether the Philippines is finally willing to compete in industries that will define the next generation — or remain comfortable watching others build the future while we debate it from the sidelines.
History rarely rewards countries that fear change. It rewards those bold enough to shape it.
— Jason Mago
Hands of Midas
King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. It sounded like the greatest blessing imaginable until he realized he could no longer eat, drink or embrace the people he loved. Wealth became his curse.
The story came to mind as I read about Pax Silica.
The promise is compelling: more jobs, more investments and more income for the Philippines. Data centers are being marketed as the engines of the artificial intelligence revolution, ushering in a new era of economic growth. But every gold rush deserves a second look.
Data centers do not run on ambition alone. They require vast tracts of land, consume enormous amounts of electricity and use tremendous volumes of water to cool thousands of servers.
The Philippines already has the highest electricity rates in ASEAN. Our farmers continue to struggle. Some have already been asked to give up their land for development, and our dams have repeatedly fallen below recommended operating levels.
Growth is necessary. Investment is welcome. But the pursuit of investment should never become so absolute that everything else turns to gold.
You cannot eat gold. You cannot drink gold. And when fertile land becomes industrial parks, water becomes coolant and people become nothing more than labor inputs, we risk forgetting what an economy is supposed to serve.
In one version of the myth, Midas washed away the curse and regained his humanity. In another, he died with it.
Today, even global investors are beginning to question whether the AI boom has become a bubble waiting to burst. If that day comes, the real measure of our success will not be how much gold we managed to attract, but whether we still have fertile land to cultivate, water to drink, affordable electricity to power our homes and people who were not reduced to mere commodities in the first place.
— Carl Magadia
I invoke my right against self-degradation
The issue of Pax Silica is consuming the country.
It concerns everyone — the farmers who fear losing their water supply, the communities worried about being displaced, and ordinary Filipinos anxious about access to clean water because of the enormous amount of water the data center will require.
Most — if not all — are skeptical of the project. The enthusiasm comes only from those who stand to profit from it. But regardless, one thing is clear: All eyes are on Pax Silica.
Apparently, though, not the Vice President.
Sara Duterte recently gave an interview to a vlogger in The Hague, Netherlands, where her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is being held by the International Criminal Court. As expected, most of the questions revolved around her impeachment trial back home and her father’s condition in detention.
On those topics, she had plenty to say.
She spoke about politics. She talked about her father preferring warm weather over cold. She shared that she did not even bother watching President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address because, to her, it was a waste of time.
Every answer came quickly and sharply. They had substance.
Asked about Pax Silica, though, she mumbled. She declined to comment.
Caught off guard when asked her position on one of the country’s biggest and most controversial projects, she refused to answer. She appeared unfamiliar with the issue. She hesitated. She struggled to pronounce the project’s name. It looked as though she was hearing it for the first time.
Pax Silica was launched in December 2025. The debate didn’t begin yesterday. For months, it has dominated headlines and fueled national discussion.
Yet here is the woman asking Filipinos to make her president without even a working knowledge of one of the country’s biggest issues. She never admitted she didn’t know. She didn’t have to.
Filipinos aren’t stupid. We know what ignorance looks like. Or maybe we don’t.
She still tops the presidential surveys.
She already holds the country’s second-highest office. Unless she is impeached — and God forbid — she could soon hold the highest.
What the Pax, indeed.
— Vivienne Angeles
