Statement | Migrante Canada
June 2026
There is no peace in Pax Silica: Defend Philippine Sovereignty, Livelihoods, and the Filipino People
Migrante Canada is opposed to the partnership of the Philippines with the US-initiative called Pax Silica.
Pax Silica is a US-led initiative which was signed by the Philippine government last April 16, 2026, making the country as the 13th Pax Silica signatory. The Latin term “Pax” means peace and prosperity, while “Silica” refers to silicon, a key element in semiconductors needed for artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
There is nothing peaceful or prosperous with Pax Silica.
With the marking of the 168th anniversary of the so-called “Araw ng Kalayaan”, Philippine membership and involvement in the Pax Silica is another proof, yet again, that the much touted “independence” is a big lie, that the so-called Philippine sovereignty is a myth, and that the project is in itself a public betrayal by the Marcos Jr.regime because he has sold the future of Filipino generations in exchange for profit.
Decades of foreign-dominated economic policies, export-oriented development, and the chronic failure of the Philippine government to prioritize and fight for the Filipino people’s interests is the hallmark of the Philippines’ shameless dependence on the US. All of this makes the 168th anniversary of “Araw ng Kalayaan” very very hollow.
Stripped of the verbiage, the hype, and spinning on so-called modernization, innovation, and economic growth used extensively by the US and the Philippines, Pax Silica is but the US aggressive response to its technological rivalry with China, and the US determination to win over China.The Philippines must not be transformed into a launching pad for US military escalation, technological warfare, and great-power conflict.
Pax Silica consolidates US dominance and stronghold over the semiconductor supply chains, AI infrastructure, and the critical minerals essential to the project. Pax Silica will not work if it does not draw in allied governments, like the Philippines and 12 other countries willing to work with US industrial policy and military strategy.
Ano ang mukha ng Pax Silica sa Pilipinas? This is the 1,620 hectare Luzon Economic Corridor that will host semiconductor production facilities and the extraction of nickel, copper, cobalt and other strategic minerals.
Saan kukunin ang mga rekursong mineral para rito? Ang Pilipinas ay may malaking reserba ng nikel, at mga deposito ng cobalt at copper, mga mineral na kailangan sa semiconductor manufacturing at sa produksyon ng gamit militar. Malinaw na kailangan ng US ang Pilipinas. Ang produksyon ng semiconductor ay kailangan para sa produksyon ng military hardware tulad ng mga US missile, drone at iba pang mga bahagi ng military supply chain ng US. The Philippines is being transformed into a platform for foreign economic and military interests while the rights, welfare, and sovereignty of the Filipino people are pushed aside. The use of technologies in war production pushes the Philippines into the US military industrial complex and the wars of aggression and genocide committed by its allies.
In reality, it is another sad chapter in the Philippines’ long history of foreign domination. We will continue to witness land dispossession and displacement of communities, especially indigenous peoples, expanded mineral extraction, environmental destruction, the conversion of productive agricultural lands in favor of Pax Silica, and the iron fist of state repression because people will fight and defend their lands, life and rights.
Sino ang nakikinabang sa Pax Silica? Who actually benefits from Pax Silica? True to form, the regime of Marcos Jr. continues to push Philippine sovereignty and the Filipino people’s interests down the drain. Concessions to US interests are at best criminal and stinks of treason – cutting corporate income tax to 20 percent, the lowest in Southeast Asia, extended corporate tax holidays for up to 27 years, and relaxed restrictions on foreign ownership. The US firms own the technology and the intellectual property. The Filipino workers, peasants, farmers and indigenous communities are the losers in Pax Silica.
As migrants and overseas Filipinos in Canada, we recognize the direct connection between projects such as Pax Silica and the conditions that continue to drive millions of Filipinos abroad. Migrante Canada opposes Pax Silica because it is not about the genuine development of the Philippines but the plunder of our lands, waters, minerals, and use of Filipino labour and expertise for US imperialist domination.
We own the lands and waters, the mineral wealth, and as workers and peasants, and the rest of the Filipino people, we can pursue industrialization on our own terms. To achieve this goal, we also know that the Filipino people, including Filipinos abroad, must struggle for genuine freedom, independence, and democracy.
We stand in solidarity with the Filipino people and their democratic organizations in the call to reject Pax Silica and all forms of imperialist control and militarized development.
Migrante Canada | June 2026