SCIENCE BEFORE COMMITMENT: A Public Statement by Science Communicators Philippines on Pax Silica

Science Communicators Philippines recognizes the potential of Pax Silica to bring much-needed advanced manufacturing, semiconductor development, artificial intelligence, and international scientific cooperation opportunities into the country.
If properly planned and governed, the proposed Pax Silica industrial hub in New Clark City stands to generate quality jobs, strengthen Philippine research and industry, retain Filipino scientific and engineering talent, and help the country move beyond exporting raw materials and performing lower-value work.
Yet, though we are not opposed to technology, industrialization, or international cooperation, we cannot endorse Pax Silica while its essential terms remain undisclosed.
Our position and recommendation for the country is unequivocal: No terms, no commitment.
The project is being presented as a major economic opportunity, with government estimates of as much as US$70 billion in investment and up to 190,000 direct jobs in semiconductor manufacturing, critical-mineral processing, artificial intelligence infrastructure, energy systems, logistics, research facilities, and related industries.
These projections are continually being touted without supporting data. But a project of this scale cannot be judged on promises alone.
The final agreement, confirmed investors, detailed site plan, environmental studies, water and energy plans, community-impact assessments, and many of the project’s legal and financial terms have not been made public—if these have been drafted or even considered at all.
Before the Philippine government signs anything, it must first undertake an independent, science-based assessment of not only individual facilities but also the combined effects of manufacturing, mineral processing, data centers, power facilities, water systems, roads, ports, housing, land conversion, waste disposal, and related infrastructure.
This assessment must examine the full life cycle of the materials and technologies involved, from mineral extraction and transport to manufacturing, export, use, recycling, and disposal. Its methods, assumptions, data, and models must be disclosed and reviewed by independent experts from the academe, related industries, civil society, and the government.
Scientific assessment must shape the agreement; it cannot be treated as post-agreement paperwork. General assurances are not enough.
Government estimates indicate that the completed hub may require around three gigawatts of power and 65 million to 90 million liters of water every day. The public must know where these resources will come from and whether the project could raise electricity costs, strain the national grid, reduce water available to households and farms, or damage surrounding ecosystems.
The proposed use of rainwater, surface water, recycling systems, and dedicated treatment facilities must be tested against actual rainfall, drought, El Niño, climate change, agricultural demand, household consumption, and ecological needs. The government must also disclose how industrial wastewater, hazardous chemicals, emissions, and waste from semiconductor and mineral-processing activities will be managed.
Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, workers, residents, local governments, businesses, environmental groups, and other affected sectors must also be involved before the agreement is finalized. Consultation must not consist of presenting a completed plan and asking communities to accept it. People must be able to examine the evidence, raise objections, recommend alternatives, and influence the final terms.
Any Pax Silica agreement must remain fully subject to Philippine law, jurisdiction, environmental regulation, labor standards, taxation, public-health rules, data-protection laws, and national security policies.
The government must disclose the lease terms, tax and investment incentives, public spending commitments, ownership arrangements, dispute-resolution provisions, cybersecurity rules, environmental liabilities, foreign personnel arrangements, and any restrictions involving defense or dual-use technologies.
No foreign government, office, investor, or project locator should receive authority outside Philippine law or protection from future regulations intended to defend public health, workers, communities, the environment, and national security.
The project must also create lasting Filipino capability. Its success cannot be measured only by capital inflows, export values, or headline job numbers.
The government must explain how many jobs will be permanent, how many will go to Filipinos, what skills they will require, how much they will pay, and what protections workers will receive. Any agreement must contain measurable commitments on Filipino employment, local procurement, technology transfer, scholarships, apprenticeships, research funding, university partnerships, supplier development, and Filipino participation in technical and leadership positions.
The Philippines must not remain merely a source of raw minerals, inexpensive labor, land, water, and energy while research, intellectual property, strategic control, and most of the long-term value remain abroad.
The full agreement and its essential legal and financial terms must therefore be disclosed before the government proceeds. Independent environmental, social, climate, health, energy, water, and life-cycle assessments must be published and reviewed. Affected communities must participate meaningfully. Binding commitments on Filipino jobs, research, technology transfer, and local economic value must be established. Independent monitoring must continue throughout the project’s lifetime.
Pax Silica may yet become an important opportunity for the Philippines, but left unchecked it may also leave irreversible costs and obligations that could last for generations. Indeed, the greater the promise that Pax Silica proclaims, all the greater is our duty to examine the evidence before committing the country’s land, water, energy, minerals, public funds, communities, and technological future.
Evidence, transparency, environmental protection, and public participation are non-negotiable. Until the complete terms are disclosed and independently examined, our position remains:
Philippine sovereignty must be protected. 
No terms, no commitment.