Statement
August 14, 2026
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) vehemently condemns the US-led Pax Silica initiative to build a 4000-acre or 1600-hectare industrial hub in New Clark City and Capas in Central Luzon, the Philippines. We stand in solidarity with the local organizations, farmers and the Aeta indigenous community who are actively speaking and campaigning against the project, and we oppose their displacement at the expense of US profit and war.
Announced in April this year, the industrial hub purports to leverage critical minerals for the production of semiconductors and for AI (Artificial Intelligence) infrastructure. While framed in the language of tech and development, it should not be lost that semi-conductors are critical to the production of armaments, and that AI is increasingly being used as a tool in US and Israeli war operations. Meanwhile, countries across the world – including Israel and the whole European Union are rapidly seeking to invest in the project.
The industrial hub – also widely criticized for its projected massive use of energy – will sit on the ancestral lands of the Aeta people. The Aeta have long opposed the development of New Clark City, upon which the industrial hub will be built. The Aeta hold claim to 17,000-hectares of land in the area, which overlaps with nearly all of the 9,450 hectares designated for New Clark City.
Just this past week, Petroniza Capriz-Muñoz, Aeta chieftain of Sapang Kawayan, spoke against the project, stating: “The Aeta community is greatly affected by this project. It will start in our ancestral land and for us indigenous peoples, our lands are our lifeline. It is our livelihood. . . We’re here to fight for our ancestral domain and to call for a stop on the Pax Silica Project.”
Mariam Ventura, a farmer in the area, added “In our area, we have good quality water – it’s clear. If they build Pax Silica, what will happen to the water in our area? That’s the only place where we get drinking water for us to live.”
The protests and concern of surrounding farmers and the Aeta community are legitimate and just. Indeed, people across the world are increasingly calling for a moratorium on AI data centers due to their usage of water, energy and impacts on communities. Even more so should the rights of the farmers and the Aeta be upheld given when the project is happening on their lands, without free prior and informed consent.
As farmers and indigenous people stand against Pax Silica, ICHRP calls upon the international community to promote and echo their calls to oppose the wrongful plunder of their ancestral land and to campaign against use of the Philippines’ rich natural resources for US war production.
