Protesters stage a rally along Kalaw Avenue in Manila on 4 July 2026, marking the 80th Philippine-U.S. Friendship Day by opposing what they describe as expanded U.S. military presence and intervention, as well as the proposed Pax Silica Initiative.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of TOTO Lozano for DAILY TRIBUNE
Bases Conversion and Development Authority president and CEO Engr. Joshua Bingcang said they are conceptualizing surface water harvesting, as rainwater during typhoon season is abundant in Tarlac, as confirmed by the mayor of Bamban to the BCDA official.
This allays fears that development of the technological hub will compete with the residential requirements of residents in Capas, Tarlac and neighboring provinces.
“The technology we want now is to produce an underground tank, just what we did to BGC (Bonifacio Global City) in Taguig. That is the reason why there is no flood in BGC because of the technology. The BCDA, I can say, is responsible for these kinds of development,” he said.
“We are also seriously considering desalination. We had talks with a company that will establish a solar farm and has the biggest desalination plant in Saudi Arabia. It’s one way of feeding the power plant and the industries that works well in the businesses that investors will be establishing in Pax Silica,” he said.
Further, Bingcang assured that no hyperscale data centers will be built inside the more than 1,600 hectares of Pax Silica, as its power requirement cannot be allocated by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
In a Palace briefing, Bingcang said only one or two data centers would be built inside the Pax Silica, which will be powered by renewable energy.
The industrial hub in New Clark City is not intended to draw its massive 3-gigawatt power demand directly from the existing public grid, with the Department of Energy stating that regular consumers will be insulated from the project, meaning the project will not affect energy supply in the Luzon Grid.
This was backed by Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. president Dan Lachica, confirming that no data centers will be established that usually consume 500 megawatts of power.
“And there will be no data centers. Because usually, data centers consume about 500 megawatts,” he said.
In terms of the sovereignty issue, Lachica said the State Department of the United States assured that the host country will govern the hub and not be controlled by the US government.
“I think what we need to do as a government is to communicate. Because, you know, in the history of the electronics industry, there are a lot of concerns, detractors, and all that.” BCDA’s Bingcang, on the other hand, adjusted the timeline for the full development of Pax Silica, from 15 years to 30 years, with the start of the development in 2028.
For his part, Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the “New Clark City is a master planned development that has an Environmental Compliance Certificate for the whole masterplan of New Clark City, and it’s a titled public land for industrial use.”
Rodolfo said the Philippines joined the US-led Pax Silica Initiative as the 13th nation to sign to transform the country from a predominantly labor and services-driven economy into a technology-enabled industrial economy.
“Pax Silica would also value-add to minerals we currently export in unprocessed or raw (ores) form: from green minerals to green metals to green tech metals. Pax Silica will also reposition the country within the global value chain for AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and service digital infrastructure,” Rodolfo said during his presentation.
10% growth for electronic industry--SEIPI
Meanwhile, the SEIPI official said they are seeing a 10 percent growth for this year, a conservative assessment following the attainment of the 16 percent growth made by the electronics sector last year.
“As you know, we started in 2025, we grew by 16%. And we were conservative. We did not expect that because of the geopolitical tension and supply chain disruptions. But the growth was driven by AI. We said 5 percent is enough. But looking at the performance of the industry, we raised it to 10 percent. If we made $49.6 billion in 2025, maybe $54 billion for 2026,” Lachica said in an ambush interview during the press conference on Pax Silica on Friday.
He said for Pax Silica alone, the projection was $200 billion if the technology hub is fully developed.
“That’s the projection. But as I said, that’s not going to happen if the industry or the government doesn’t support it. That’s why we need to help each other,” according to Lachica.
“That’s where we are. And of course, since AI is still going to grow, data centers are still going to grow. That’s why, of course, the automotive electronics are still there,” he added.
