No date yet on Pax Silica legal framework signing, says BCDA chief

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The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said Tuesday there is is no specific date yet when the legal framework for the planned Pax Silica initiative will be signed, originally targeted this November —the same month that US President Donald Trump is in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

In a chance interview with reporters, BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang said the legal framework for Pax Silica was already submitted to Malacañang.

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.

The Pax Silica framework deal is targeted to be signed by November, the same month that Trump is in the Philippines.

Asked regarding the status of the framework’s signing this month, Bingcang said, “Nothing concrete, nothing is finalized.”

However, the BCDA chief said that the government is keen on pushing through with the Pax Silica initiative.

“We want this project to push through starting with the signing of an agreement,” Bingcan said.

EXPLAINER: What is Pax Silica and why are people worried?

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. — RSJ, GMA News