‘Fox Silica’? Presidential aspirant Sara Duterte has no clue what Pax Silica is

Asked if she knows anything about Pax Silica, Vice President Sara Duterte says, 'wala' and that she 'cannot comment' The candidate to beat for 2028, Vice President Sara Duterte, has no idea what the United States-led Pax Silica initiative is and has no comment on it — for the time being. The veep was at The Hague, in the Netherlands, on Tuesday, July 28, to visit her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and entertained questions from supporters and vloggers outside of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention center. There, she was asked, “Do you know anything about [Pax Silica]?” Her response was a brief moment of confusion over the wording of it and a quick “Wala. Ako? (Nope. Me?) I cannot comment on that.” Perhaps, it was the frequent non-essential trips abroad that have kept her too busy to know about an issue that has put the entire country on edge for months over sovereignty and artificial intelligence (AI), but one can only assume what is going on in the mind of the presidential aspirant. Pax this, Pax that In December 2025, the US formed the Pax Silica coalition to compete against China’s rise in the tech manufacturing sector. The Philippines joined on April 17, becoming the thirteenth country to join the coalition. At the core of the country’s participation is the hosting of an AI industrial hub on a 1,618-hectare property in New Clark City, Tarlac. Both the Philippines and the US are still planning to identify the appropriate setup for the development of the hub, but intend to go about it with a “joint governance” approach, according to the US embassy. Still, civil society organizations and concerned groups have raised concerns over the possible negative impact of the AI hub that include, but are not limited to, water insecurity due to high water demand for cooling systems, probable displacement of indigenous peoples and farming villages, and high energy consumption in affected areas. Groups like the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan have called for the abolition of the country’s participation in the Pax Silica initiative, describing the program as “war production disguised as development.” Meanwhile, Akbayan Partylist Representatives Perci Cendaña, Chel Diokno, and Dadah Kiram Ismula have filed a House resolution to urge the lower chamber to conduct a probe into the Pax Silica initiative. Even Energy Secretary Sharon Garin expressed concern over the planned AI industrial hub, telling Rappler in an exclusive interview that the project cannot simply plug its full demand into the Luzon grid without exposing households and businesses to serious risk. Two sides of the AI coin While the Vice President made her unfamiliarity over the issue clear, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself was no better at addressing the criticisms of Pax Silica. In his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 27, Marcos merely pitched the potential of the Pax Silica initiative to bring the country closer to the global AI stage. “The Pax Silica Industrial Hub will create an ecosystem that will have AI at its core. It will bring quality jobs to our people, accelerate our industrial competitiveness, and revitalize our economy,” he said. As of this writing, the Vice President has not made any further comment on the planned AI industrial hub or its effect on the Philippine economy. Nor has she given any signs of a response to the memes made after her viral “no comment” video. If the veep is serious about taking over Marcos Jr.’s job in 2028, and if there are any odds that her ongoing impeachment trial would sway in her favor, then at the very least, she ought to perhaps read up on the Pax while she’s off to her next flight abroad. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading