The legal framework for the proposed Pax Silica initiative is still expected to be signed by the Philippine and American governments before 2026 ends, a top official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.
“I think we're still on track towards having an agreement by the end of this year,” DTI Undersecretary and Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo told reporters at the sidelines of the ASEAN Investment Summit in Makati City.
The Trade official was sought to clarify the status of the negotiations for the Pax Silica legal framework after US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton announced, over the weekend, that there is no scheduled announcement for the Pax Silica initiative in the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila —during which US President Donald Trump will be attending.
Rodolfo explained that the Philippine side, which currently chairs the ASEAN this year, does “not want to distract attention or take away attention from the regional initiatives that ASEAN and the Philippines are promoting.”
“There are so many things that are happening in terms of the ASEAN. It's a full-packed diplomatic and political agenda happening in succession.
So we do not want to compete in that space. We would like the regional initiatives to be given the attention that they so richly deserve,” he said.
The Trade official said the signing of the Pax Silica legal framework is an “equally important” event that should have “its own dedicated moment.”
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has earlier said that there is no specific date yet when the legal framework for the planned Pax Silica initiative will be signed, originally targeted this November.
Last month, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro announced that the BCDA has submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the legal framework for the Pax Silica.
Rodolfo said that once the legal framework for the Pax Silica is signed by the end of 2026, “then the timeline for the two-year development period, master planning and everything, still on track.”
Philippine officials are expected to include a clause that explicitly preserves sovereignty over projects in the Pax Silica initiative in New Clark City, stating that expatriates employed in the area will have no diplomatic immunity.
The initiative, announced in April, is a US-led effort to build a network of allied supply chains for critical technologies and minerals, which the Philippines will host in the New Clark City in Tarlac.
Officials have clarified that there will be no data centers included in the Pax Silica initiative, as its main objective is to process the country’s minerals and to make high-tech components for AI and semiconductors.
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