Pax Silica: Building a huge AI Data Center in the Philippines

[pooya87]

Pax Silica is an international initiative lead by the US

So what does the third world country can contribute to Pax Silica?

Let me speculate a little here and tell you that this is a military operation.

That's one of the main reasons why the US regime establishes such "bases" in third countries close to the secondary countries they want to wage a war against. In case of Philippine it is China and they ran a similar operation in West Asia against Iran by establishing such bases in Arab dictatorships.

These military bases that are advertised as non-military usually, are there to quickly receive a large amount of data 24/7 and process them for their military operation. The Amazon databases, and lots of other AI infrastructure on the Southern shores of The Persian Gulf in Arab dictatorships were used to carry out the terrorist attacks against Iran. Which is why Iran destroyed most of them over the past couple of months and that's one of the main reason why the US military was crippled in West Asia for the most part.

The timing of this (having lost their military AI infrastructure and data centers in West Asia) means they have to relocate it to somewhere else. Where else is better than a country that is geographically close to China...
And in case the war that the US regime has started with China already escalates, those bases inside Philippine are going to be among the targets China will destroy.

[bisdak40]

~snip~

Thats bad. I remember there was also news before about the Villars allegedly removing farmers so the land could be used for subdivisions, but in the end no buyers came.

Projects like this can affect the livelihood of farmers. We are already short of rice and importing from other countries, then now another large project may take more land away from agriculture. I just hope the government makes the right decision here and balances development with protecting farmers and natural resources.

Regarding electricity, I think they are planning to use solar power, which is reasonable in the Philippines since we get plenty of sunlight.

It may not be just the farmers who are going to be affected by this project, might also be the BPO workers as AI could displaced them. There is a post now circulating on social media from BPO workers opposing this project. The government i think is keen of pushing this as the palace has already released to the media that this is already a go despite heavy opposition from the public.

About the planned solar power use on Pax Silica, i think that might not be enough, they will still need power from utilities which they said will be sold cheap to them while local are buying expensive power, i think that is not fair.

[Oasisman]

So what does the third world country can contribute to Pax Silica?

Everything that involves natural resources, which I believe the most expensive one among all that were invested to this project in the long run.

Is the Philippines and the government really ready for this?

The fact that the Philippines just recently experienced frequent power interruptions, that they implemented a temporary power distribution causing massive blackouts in large portion of the country because of the severe dry season. It is safe to say that the Philippines might not be ready for this. If this will push through, I will be expecting a very large adjustments. That means frequent power interruptions and unstable water supply, as this whole project runs on massive electricity and water supply.

[demonica]

I would not question what Pax Silica can bring to the Philippines. Surely it can create jobs and help the country become more advanced.

My concern is the natural resources that may be damaged just to bring these big companies in. Thats also what I keep reading in many comments, especially about its possible negative impact on the environment.

So for those who are experts on this topic, I would really like to know if there is something we should be worried about. I will keep following this thread because I admit I still don't fully understand everything, and I want to be properly educated about what we need to know.

From what i've read, this Pax Silica structure would be very huge and as of this writing they are now in the process of expelling farmers on their own land just to accommodate the structure to be build there, that is one negative impact that this project brings to the Philippines.

I'm not sure if they said is sure but the number of jobs that Pax Silica would be bring to the country is not enough to offset the negative effects it brings, the PH government said that it would bring thousands of jobs but have not released breakdown on what kind and the specific number but one thing is for sure, this project would eat too much resources which at the moment we are having problems with. Ph is one of the countries with the highest cost of electricity but wonder why they insists on bringing this project here, there must be something going on.

This is also one thing that I would want to know. If they really want the public to understand the opportunities it could bring to the country, the government needs to justify it. The job opportunities they're saying, how many job opportunities it could bring? Would it be sufficient for all the negative environmental impact it would bring to the area?

I am open to understanding if it would really be beneficial for the country to push this project. But one thing that also concerns me the most, is how untrustworthy our government can be. Can they really handle such big project? Or will it be another scheme to steal funds, or make money for themselves? I'm really doubting that their priority is the people...

[Fiatless]

Pax Silica is an international initiative lead by the US

So what does the third world country can contribute to Pax Silica?

Let me speculate a little here and tell you that this is a military operation.

That's one of the main reasons why the US regime establishes such "bases" in third countries close to the secondary countries they want to wage a war against. In case of Philippine it is China and they ran a similar operation in West Asia against Iran by establishing such bases in Arab dictatorships.

These military bases that are advertised as non-military usually, are there to quickly receive a large amount of data 24/7 and process them for their military operation. The Amazon databases, and lots of other AI infrastructure on the Southern shores of The Persian Gulf in Arab dictatorships were used to carry out the terrorist attacks against Iran. Which is why Iran destroyed most of them over the past couple of months and that's one of the main reason why the US military was crippled in West Asia for the most part.

The timing of this (having lost their military AI infrastructure and data centers in West Asia) means they have to relocate it to somewhere else. Where else is better than a country that is geographically close to China...
And in case the war that the US regime has started with China already escalates, those bases inside Philippine are going to be among the targets China will destroy.

This could also have an economic undertone. The Pax Silica project is targeted at replacing the country's dependence on China with dependence on the U.S., Japan, and Korea. A report stated that the Philippines was selected "because of its location within the Luzon Economic Corridor and its geopolitical position in the competition between the United States and China over advanced-chip manufacturing". So it is also a strategy to reduce China's market share in the chip manufacturing industry.

[bhadz]

The timing of this (having lost their military AI infrastructure and data centers in West Asia) means they have to relocate it to somewhere else. Where else is better than a country that is geographically close to China...
And in case the war that the US regime has started with China already escalates, those bases inside Philippine are going to be among the targets China will destroy.

I think you're right, in the past administration - Duterte presidency, he kicked out those US bases and asked for a payment of their tenured stay. And when the regime has changed to Marcos presidency, these US bases came back and now this PAX Silica. And with the escalating situation of US and China in the region including Taiwan, our country the Philippines is the positioned best for their bases. They've got Guam but it's not in a strategical location against China and they won't like to put that island of theirs into a casualty if ever the war starts. Too many agendas against China is on the media fed by these politicians. If this war triggers, they're the first ones to fly away with their family.

[Faisal2202]

Hahahaa, yeah once the company starts operating, local people apply for jobs there but many of them are rejected because they don't meet the company requirement. The government always talks about creating more job opportunities but they don't always consider whether local people actually have the qualification to apply the job.

I don't know about other countries, but here, they tend to prefer their close relatives, friends, etc. Then they will make sure to hire someone who actually knows how to do things, so eventually, it becomes obvious what is happening. People love to pretend they know what they're doing these days.

I mean, in a firm, if one to three people who don't know what they're doing get hired and stay for a year or at least six months, that's fine because they can learn the nature of the work over time and can become a good asset for the firm.

But what if that number reaches 10 or 20? That's what has happened before. They may also hire some Chinese workers because they are skilled, and maybe they will only hire them for positions where they have real responsibilities but not much authority. They will have a boss above them, but they will be given all the resources so they can deliver the results the firm wants.

Anyway, I am not complaining. It is ultimately a shortcoming of the citizens who don't take a stand or raise their voices.

[mirakal]

I don't know about other countries, but here, they tend to prefer their close relatives, friends, etc. Then they will make sure to hire someone who actually knows how to do things, so eventually, it becomes obvious what is happening. People love to pretend they know what they're doing these days.

I think this is a special case. If this company will operate in the Philippines, then there should also be something significant that the country and the people will benefit from, and that includes hiring Filipinos.

Maybe some of the higher positions will still go to people who already have the experience and know how to operate the business, but jobs like labor, staff, technical work, and other positions should also be opened to Filipinos. Im sure there should be conditions like that in the agreement. Otherwise, it would not really be a win-win situation if the country allows them to use or extract its mineral resources without giving enough benefits back to the people.

[m2017]

So what does the third world country can contribute to Pax Silica?

Land resources (area), cheap and available labor, and possibly lower taxes.

Aside from minerals, they are planning to build an approximately 4000-acre zone data center in the country. Now, it’s controversial in the country as it brings worries to people such as the land use, environment impact, especially the water and electricity it will consume. The government see this as an opportunity to bring more employment and foreign investors, However, the public contradicts to this plan as it will bring more negative impact to the environment.

Is there a shortage of water and electricity in the Philippines? The solution is to select a region of the country where these resources are abundant for data center construction or to create a surplus by building the necessary infrastructure. Why is the public outraged? It is hardly the case that the country's population enjoys an excessively high standard of living; attracting business and investment in this way would provide jobs for some of the population and help ensure their survival.

Is the Philippines and the government really ready for this?

Why not? If aren't ready, then need to prepare. Anything well-executed is good.

And we know how data center can impact the area where it is build, and we’ve seen it from other countries like US. Dirty water supply and water availability to the households near the area, Electricity demand, Noise pollution, Traffic and other disturbance during the construction phase, and probably much more once it started operating.

This is far from the most complex project humanity has ever undertaken. Therefore, I believe it is entirely feasible, provided, of course, that all potential negative consequences are anticipated and prevented. For instance, the region is notorious for typhoons and floods; I believe that protective measures against these hazards should be incorporated into the construction of the data center in the Philippines.

Today, we’re slowly relying more on AI with the simple things we do, so the demand for it also grows even more. But what do you guys think if that demand means building a huge AI data center near your house or community?

It’s as if a data center absolutely has to be built right next to your house, doesn't it? Has the planet run out of available land? In a worst-case scenario, "your house" could be relocated to another (more comfortable) region. You talk as if every Filipino’s home were a massive, personal, gold-plated palace with domes - something impossible to leave or walk away from.

A model palace

[goldkingcoiner]

All these AI centers will have some kind of ecological effect that we are not yet able to predict due to the fact that they are not yet everywhere. But if this changes, and the data AI centers keep growing, then we will definitely see it.

I for one do not like the idea of cooling with water. Water is a precious resource. They should look for other ways to cool their data centers.

And not even going to mention the effect this will have on the earth they keep pumping/dumping this water out of.

[Taricoins]

Like it or not, if the Philippines doesn't implement this data center initiative, some other company or urbanization effect will take place in that stead. Still there are advantages and disadvantages of this project but the most important aspect is the provision of employment and increase in there technological progression, from being assemblers to actually making AI chips putting them in the room with bigger countries, people will complain but rather than complain, the government should find solutions to the adverse effect on the immediate environment.

The only problem with this that I see creating this AI hub is putting the Phillipines in the middle between America and China issues.

[Cointxz]

Pax Silica is an international initiative lead by the US

So what does the third world country can contribute to Pax Silica?

Let me speculate a little here and tell you that this is a military operation.

That's one of the main reasons why the US regime establishes such "bases" in third countries close to the secondary countries they want to wage a war against. In case of Philippine it is China and they ran a similar operation in West Asia against Iran by establishing such bases in Arab dictatorships.

These military bases that are advertised as non-military usually, are there to quickly receive a large amount of data 24/7 and process them for their military operation. The Amazon databases, and lots of other AI infrastructure on the Southern shores of The Persian Gulf in Arab dictatorships were used to carry out the terrorist attacks against Iran. Which is why Iran destroyed most of them over the past couple of months and that's one of the main reason why the US military was crippled in West Asia for the most part.

The timing of this (having lost their military AI infrastructure and data centers in West Asia) means they have to relocate it to somewhere else. Where else is better than a country that is geographically close to China...
And in case the war that the US regime has started with China already escalates, those bases inside Philippine are going to be among the targets China will destroy.

Exactly!

This is the reason why I hate this project planning to build in our country since we will be dragged to war when US started a chaos again but this time against China on Taiwan dispute.

Our country is a strategic place to respond quickly to Taiwan and other US allies plus we have lots of minerals that can sustain on their AI production. Our current administration is too dumb and full of corruption so I believe this project will proceed before the president term ended on 2028.

[demonica]

Land resources (area), cheap and available labor, and possibly lower taxes.

Is there a shortage of water and electricity in the Philippines? The solution is to select a region of the country where these resources are abundant for data center construction or to create a surplus by building the necessary infrastructure. Why is the public outraged? It is hardly the case that the country's population enjoys an excessively high standard of living; attracting business and investment in this way would provide jobs for some of the population and help ensure their survival.

Currently, electricity in the country is becoming more and more expensive. And water is also a problem for provincial areas. There might be no huge shortage of water and electricity in the area, but once it’s built, it will be a problem for the community.

Why not? If aren't ready, then need to prepare. Anything well-executed is good.

This is far from the most complex project humanity has ever undertaken. Therefore, I believe it is entirely feasible, provided, of course, that all potential negative consequences are anticipated and prevented. For instance, the region is notorious for typhoons and floods; I believe that protective measures against these hazards should be incorporated into the construction of the data center in the Philippines.

It’s not just as simple as they have to prepare if they’re not ready. The government has a lot of corruption inside, so I doubt they will really think and care about the people and the long term environmental effect of building the data center.

And yes, it’s feasible if they really want to build it, how can the people stop it? And you’ve said it yourself, the country experiences a lot of typhoon and flooding every year. If they’ll have to cut more trees, destroy the land just to build the data center, then it may lead to more excessive flooding during typhoons. They can build the data center in preparation for floods, but how about the household and the communities living near the area? They’ll be the one who’ll suffer more.

It’s as if a data center absolutely has to be built right next to your house, doesn't it? Has the planet run out of available land? In a worst-case scenario, "your house" could be relocated to another (more comfortable) region. You talk as if every Filipino’s home were a massive, personal, gold-plated palace with domes - something impossible to leave or walk away from.

The area they’re proposing to build the data center is near the community with residential and commercial areas, even airport. Aside from that, the proposed pax silica hub may also affect the farmland and ancestral land of the aeta community living there. It’s not just about their houses, it’s also about their source of living. They’re afraid of losing the land they’ve been living for decades and the land that feeds them.

It’s easier to say to just move to a different house when you’re not affected by it.

Source link:

Code:

https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/6/-maawa-naman-kayo-aeta-community-in-tarlac-fears-losing-ancestral-land-to-pax-silica-hub-1833

[Faisal2202]

I think this is a special case. If this company will operate in the Philippines, then there should also be something significant that the country and the people will benefit from, and that includes hiring Filipinos.

Maybe some of the higher positions will still go to people who already have the experience and know how to operate the business, but jobs like labor, staff, technical work, and other positions should also be opened to Filipinos. Im sure there should be conditions like that in the agreement. Otherwise, it would not really be a win-win situation if the country allows them to use or extract its mineral resources without giving enough benefits back to the people.

Well, that's a relief because at least jobs like this are enough for some who are not educated enough to find better jobs.

I respect everyone, no hard feelings for anyone, but here they would still have to give such jobs to anyone because these jobs could only be done by people who are poor.

They won't hire their relatives or friends for such jobs because when you hire them, they will complain to you about the job. They won't do what their superiors tell them to.

So they really need people who are in real need, who would do overtime without getting paid, who would do all the work they are not assigned to, just to keep their jobs. That kind of job environment still exists in a lot of countries.

[coin-investor]

Is the Philippines and the government really ready for this?

There's a lot of opposition to this project, but the current administration is not addressing it properly. Sure, it will have tons of new jobs and opportunities and huge revenue for the government, but the environmental impact cannot be ignored; there should be an open debate and consensus on this, if the benefits outweigh the negative impact.

The Philippine government has huge debts and a budget deficit, but it can't let Pax Silica ruin one region's environment; the government should see to it that the people's concerns are addressed and that it creates measures to address the bad impact of Pax Silica, or just scrap the project; the Philippines' interest should be the one that matters here.

[noorman0]

-snip-
Is the Philippines and the government really ready for this?

The concerns of the local community are entirely reasonable, suggesting they are not fully prepared, unless of course, their government is intent on rapidly advancing its economy, though I question whether the immense potential cited has actually been validated through comprehensive technical and economic analysis. I would not base my assessment on the U.S. perspective, as they are capable of projecting unrealistic potential onto a target nation simply to achieve their own ambitious. Ultimately, the Philippine government needs to give greater weight to the views of its own people when making these decisions.