‘Pax Silica:’ Another American Con Job on Filipinos

DEPARTMENT of National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro is spearheading the sales talk for the U.S. hatched ‘Pax Silica,’ purportedly an “international initiative” to secure AI (artificial intelligence) and semi-conductor supply chains to build resilient, trusted, and “innovation-driven” networks to reduce dependency of participants on other countries (read: China) for critical minerals and electronic chip technologies. It “sounds” like a good idea– until your read America’s conditions on the Philippines’ participation in the project.

First, the U.S. will get 4,000 acres (2,000 hectares) of prime urban-industrial zone land in the 3-intersections of Clark-Subic-Batangas for FREE for 99-years, primarily, the New Clark City. Second, the humongous area the U.S. will carve out for itself will enjoy “extraterritoriality” or exemption from Philippine laws. It will operate under American jurisdiction, and its personnel will enjoy diplomatic immunity.

What would the Americans REALLY be doing, storing and operating that would require such extraordinary conditions of security and diplomatic insulation?

How intrepid of them to think that they could overcome the constitutional and legal barriers to give away such a huge chunk of national territory which can hardly be interpreted to be part of the Mutual Defense Treaty or the EDCA!

What would the Americans be doing in New Clark City if they succeed in making that as the “Pax Silica” site? Not mining, as Philippine rare earth minerals are in Samar and Palawan. Processing? That will require exceptionally huge supply of electricity due to the complex, multi-stage, and chemical-heavy extraction would drain power from the grid -and exactly the reason why opposition to the projects is rising in the area.

Is America operating an AI Data Center there? AI data centers consume massive amounts of cooling water – up to 5-million gallons a day, that’ll dry up the whole region. Nothing explains the Americans’ choice of location, demand for extraterritoriality, diplomatic immunity and such level of security except that the U.S. will be using it for military purposes, given that the overlap and integration of AI and defense industries today is already a fact.

AI is used in Autonomous Weapons Systems and Drones; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); Command, Control, and Decision Support; Predictive Maintenance and Logistics; Cybersecurity and Electronic Warfare. This would make the facility dual-use and certainly require maximum security arrangements for the project – and make it a prime target for enemies that America created for itself: North Korea, Russia and China.

The Philippines’ ASEAN neighbors have been recipients of massive legitimate AI investments from China with key commercial players like Huawei, Alibaba, and ZTE. Malaysia and Singapore have been major beneficiaries.

Other ASEAN members are trying to ensure the region’s AI industry independence with several ASEAN agreements on AI ethics, and the Philippines risks violating some of these agreements with the highly suspicious U.S. Pax Silica project and further isolating it in the region.

Pax Silica is looking more, and more like another American “con job” — conning and scamming the Filipino nation into an unequal agreement, grabbing land, short-changing the country, and endangering its future.

We are being put as another target in the U.S. ACE (Agile Combat Employment) doctrine of “dispersing forces and facilities across multiple location to complicate U.S. enemy targeting.” The U.S. now have 20 such military bases and dual-use sites in the Philippines, this Pax Silica at the very heart of Central Luzon will be the biggest.