MANILA, Philippines — If the Philippines turns its back on Pax Silica, don’t expect the opportunity to sit around waiting.
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez has fired a blunt warning amid mounting criticism of the US-led initiative: several Asian neighbors are already willing to take what Manila was offered.
Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, he said, are among the countries prepared to step in.
“The Philippines is one of the few countries chosen for Pax Silica,” Romualdez told reporters Friday on the sidelines of the Manila Overseas Press Club Judiciary Night in Makati.
“Let’s not look at the negatives. Let’s look at positives, then discuss negatives,” he said.
Then came the warning.
“If right away we’re looking at negatives, unfortunately, many other countries in Asia want it — Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They’re prepared to take on the Pax Silica.”
PH PICKED — BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Pax Silica is a US-led economic security initiative designed to strengthen international supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other critical technologies.
The Philippines is among 24 countries that signed onto the framework, placing Manila inside a select group seeking a bigger role in the rapidly expanding global race for AI infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
At the center of the Philippine plan is a proposed 1,600-hectare AI-focused industrial hub in New Clark City, Tarlac.
The government says the initiative could go far beyond AI facilities and potentially help the country attract high-value manufacturing, technology investments and jobs.
But opposition has intensified.
Aeta communities in Capas, Tarlac have raised fears over the possible impact on ancestral land, while critics are demanding greater scrutiny of the project’s environmental, social and economic implications.
ROMUALDEZ: HEAR THE BENEFITS BEFORE KILLING THE DEAL
Romualdez said those concerns deserve discussion—but argued that critics should not condemn the initiative before the details are fully examined.
“I think these will be thoroughly discussed, threshed out, and it will be very transparent,” he said.
He appealed to political leaders and opposition groups to first study what the Philippines could gain before attacking the project.
For Romualdez, the stakes are bigger than one controversial development in Tarlac.
The Philippines is competing against some of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies for billions in semiconductor, AI, electronics and advanced manufacturing investments.
Vietnam has aggressively built its electronics manufacturing base. Malaysia has positioned itself as a major semiconductor hub. Indonesia is courting technology and industrial investments of its own.
Against that backdrop, Romualdez’s message was unmistakable: the Philippines is not the only country knocking on the door.
REJECT IT — AND SOMEONE ELSE MAY TAKE IT
The controversy now leaves Manila facing a potentially costly choice.
The government must prove that communities, ancestral lands and the environment will be protected while demonstrating that Pax Silica can actually deliver jobs, investments and technology opportunities.
But one thing appears certain from Romualdez’s warning: rejecting the initiative does not mean the project disappears.
It could simply move elsewhere.
And with Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia supposedly waiting in the wings, the Philippines may eventually have to ask itself a painful question:
Did it protect its interests—or hand a massive economic opportunity to its rivals?