The proposed Pax Silica industrial hub in New Clark City, Tarlac, has yet to receive a land-conversion application from any entity, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) told lawmakers Thursday.
DAR Undersecretary Napoleon Galit made the disclosure during the House deliberations on the agency’s proposed P16.935-billion budget for 2027, amid growing scrutiny over the possible impact of the massive technology and advanced-manufacturing project on agricultural land and farmers.
Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago asked whether DAR had issued any conversion order covering the proposed Pax Silica site, which is estimated at about 4,000 acres, or roughly 1,619 to 1,620 hectares, in New Clark City.
Galit said no entity had so far applied for land conversion in connection with the project.
The clarification is significant because land conversion is a critical regulatory issue if agricultural properties are eventually included in development plans. The absence of a conversion application, however, does not mean the project has been abandoned. Rather, it indicates that the land-conversion process has not yet formally reached DAR.
Farmers’ rights remain a key issue
The planned Pax Silica hub has attracted attention because of concerns about its possible effects on agricultural communities in Capas, Tarlac.
In a separate House hearing earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the Department of Agriculture was still assessing the project’s potential impact on farmers and agricultural production.
Tiu Laurel said the assessment was expected to take about 30 days. Initial information, he said, suggested that the number of farmers directly affected by the approximately 1,600-hectare site could be lower than some estimates circulating publicly.
Lawmakers, however, have urged the government to establish the project’s agricultural, irrigation, water and environmental impacts before major decisions are made.
Elago stressed that industrial development should not undermine the country’s food-security objectives, particularly in an agricultural area such as Central Luzon.
DAR warns it will defend agrarian reform beneficiaries
DAR also signaled that it would challenge any attempt to use eminent domain against agrarian reform beneficiaries holding Certificates of Land Ownership Award, or CLOAs, if their land is eventually affected.
Galit said DAR would contest the validity of an exercise of eminent domain involving CLOA-covered properties by Pax Silica or the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
That position could become important if specific agricultural parcels are eventually identified for the project and their owners or beneficiaries are required to give up their land.
The project is much bigger than a data center
Pax Silica has sometimes been described publicly as a giant AI or data-center project, but Philippine officials have repeatedly sought to clarify that its proposed New Clark City development is primarily envisioned as an advanced manufacturing and technology ecosystem.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority has said the hub is intended to attract semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing companies involved in the AI supply chain rather than simply function as a massive hyperscale data-center complex.
The Philippine government sees the project as part of the Luzon Economic Corridor and a potential way to move the country’s semiconductor, critical-minerals and manufacturing industries toward higher-value activities.
Government projections have put potential investments from the broader development at roughly US$40 billion to US$70 billion, with more than 130,000 jobs potentially generated once the project is fully developed.
But environmental clearance is another unresolved question
The land-conversion issue is not the only regulatory question surrounding Pax Silica.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources previously told lawmakers that no environmental impact assessment had yet been applied for or processed for the proposed hub. DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna also said the agency did not yet have a sufficiently clear project description to conduct a meaningful environmental assessment.
That means several major questions surrounding the project remain open, including its precise development footprint, environmental requirements and potential effects on agriculture and surrounding communities.
The government has nevertheless maintained that the project will be required to comply with Philippine environmental and other regulatory requirements.
Malacañang has also said that farmers will not be displaced, while officials have described the broader New Clark City development as having designated areas for green spaces, forest reserves and agriculture.
A high-tech promise meets a land and food-security test
Pax Silica is being promoted as a potential turning point for Philippine technology and advanced manufacturing, with officials arguing that it could bring investment, high-quality employment and greater participation in global AI and semiconductor supply chains.
But Thursday’s DAR disclosure underscores an important reality: the proposed hub remains subject to government processes before development can proceed on land that may be affected.
For now, there is no land-conversion application before DAR related to Pax Silica, no DAR conversion order for the project, and no completed environmental impact assessment.
The next phase could therefore be just as consequential as the investment pitch itself: determining exactly which land will be used, who could be affected, and whether the promised economic gains can be achieved without compromising agricultural land, environmental safeguards and the rights of communities.
WWC ONE MEDIA MJE
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