AGHAM Negros Island Region

28/07/2026

AGHAM Negros Statement on Marcos Jr. 5th SONA
ANOTHER RECYCLED PRO-US, ANTI-PEOPLE, ANTI-INDUSTRIALIZATION POLICIES IN NEW RHETORICS
July 28, 2026

The Marcos Jr’s 5TH SONA offers nothing new but another recycled policies in new rhetorics and embellishment.

Marcos ignores again the people’s immediate demands to carry out comprehensive land reform not CLOA splitting and individual titling and condonation of past debts, repeal of the oil deregulation law which has caused unstoppable soaring of fuel prices, the removal of the VAT on oil, electricity, and water, the substantial wage hike for the working class.

Marcos Jr has not, cannot and will not slap charges against his top officials, congressmen-women and senators, including his cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, because to do so will open the floodgate to Malacanang and bring the whole corrupt empire down.

Marcos Jr, following the footsteps of his late fascist dictator, has totally capitulated to US imperialism this time pawning our national sovereignty and resources under the Pax Silica agreement due for signing in November visit of Trump, all of that on top of the sprawling mobile EDCA US military bases in the whole archipelago.

He bragged of the US-led Pax Silica as part of his already discredited and proven anti people and anti industrialization policy of debt and foreign investment-driven, import-dependent, export-oriented under the baton of neoliberal policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization and de-nationalization.

The real state of the people and nation reverberates today across the archipelago, rural countrysides and urban centers where the workers, peasants, transport and communication workers, the greater exploited and oppressed masses are rising to demand accountability and vehemently resist and reject the puppet, oppressive, and repressive US-Marcos Jr. regime.

In Negros capital Bacolod City, and Dumaguete City, thousands gathered on Marcos Jr’s SONA to militantly demand accountability and express their collective rejection of the rotten, corrupt, puppet and fascist regime.

Despite the desperate suppression tactics employed by the police, military and their paramilitary forces and agents —including red-tagging, intimidation, harassment, and illegal arrests in the National Capital Region and other cities and urban centers – the people are not silenced.

The wave of militarization, the massive red tagging of activists, journalists and critics, and the continuing massacres and mass killings in Negros – have only fueled the collective resolve of the people to struggle for real social change.

AGHAM Negros maintains its firm stand that the US-Marcos Jr corrupt and fascist regime is incapable of solving the fundamental socio-eco-political problems of the country, much less in transforming it into a truly independent, industrialized and progressive nation.

Only through the people’s collective struggles, with support of our scientists, engineers and other thousands of STEM professionals and advocates, can national freedom and democracy with socialist perspective be achieved and flourish.

25/07/2026

Reject Pax Silica! Join the People's SONA! Siyentista, Makiisa! Ipaglaban ang karapatan! ✊

📍 10:00 AM – Mercury Drug, Tandang Sora, Quezon City (Morning Program)

📍 12:00 PM – Commonwealth, Quezon City (People's SONA Mobilization)

Itakwil ang papet, pasista, at pahirap na Rehimeng Marcos! Labanan ang imperyalistang gera at pandarambong!

📩 PM us to join the coordination groupchat 😊

24/07/2026

Siyentista, Makiisa! Ipaglaban ang karapatan! ✊

⏰ July 27, Afternoon
📍 Commonwealth, Ever Gotesco

Itakwil ang papet, pasista, at pahirap na Rehimeng Marcos! Labanan ang imperyalistang gera at pandarambong!

📩 PM us to join the coordination groupchat 😊

24/07/2026

PRESS RELEASE
Scientist group debunks the claims of BCDA on Pax Silica
AGHAM ADVOCATES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE
July 24, 2026

AGHAM takes issue with some of the claims made by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) with regards to the proposed 1,620 hectare Pax Silica Economic Security Zone (ESZ) in Tarlac. Based on publicly available information and data, we have assessed BCDA’s claims and show below that, at best, they present an incomplete picture of the potential impacts of the Pax Silica project. As a progressive group of scientists, engineers, and STEM advocates, we continue to register our opposition to the Pax Silica project.

Claim #1: Pax Silica will not displace farmers and IPs.
According to reports from local media, the BCDA has already put out an initial list of Project Affected Persons for the project earlier this month, showing that residents of Brgys. O'Donnel, Aranguren, and Santa Lucia of Capas, Tarlac will be impacted. According to data from the Capas municipal LGU, over 30% of its land area is considered productive agricultural land. In fact, local government projects conducted this year have targeted farmers from the three barangays mentioned, as well as farmers from adjacent barangays who belong to indigenous groups. There are also Aeta communities in the area of New Clark City (adjacent to the Pax Silica site) whose ancestral lands are not formally recognized by the NCIP. These are the farmers and IP groups that will be displaced. Displacement can be direct physical displacement or indirect displacement by loss of livelihood, and the immense scale of the project will undoubtedly affect the livelihoods of farmers both inside and outside the project area.

Claim #2: Pax Silica will run primarily on renewable energy like solar.
The AI data centers that Pax Silica is courting will run 24/7, and intermittent energy sources like solar and wind may not be able to supply energy consistently for this purpose since they are highly dependent on environmental factors. This would likely mean that, in reality, Pax Silica will still use fossil fuels, or introduce controversial sources like nuclear, to power much of its operations. There are reports of how data centers in the US are resorting to diesel generators to keep operations running, resulting in massive air pollution. Even if they were to use solar, supplying even just half of the projected 3 - 5 gigawatt (GW) energy consumption of the project would require over a thousand hectares of additional land for solar farms. Simply put, more displacement, and more social and ecological devastation.

Claim #3: Pax Silica will not use community water, and instead will rely on surface water harvesting.
Surface water harvesting, or rainfall collection, will still mean reducing the water used or available for farmers and their communities, including communities downstream of the project. Rainfall is one of the ways underground aquifers are recharged, and diverting this water to resource-intensive development projects will undoubtedly affect the community water sources in the area. There are reports in other countries how communities are now dealing with dirty tap and drinking water due to nearby operations of AI data centers, the same centers Pax Silica wants to bring into our country. This claim by the BCDA also raises the question how water needs of the project will be met in situations of drought or low rainfall, which are becoming more frequent with worsening climate change.

Claim #4: Pax Silica will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs for Filipinos.
The AI data centers Pax Silica wants to introduce will not actually lead to a significant number of long-term jobs. For example, the hyperscale data centers of Meta and OpenAI in North America, of which a single campus can occupy over 500 hectares, only produce hundreds of long-term jobs at most; any claim that "thousands of jobs" are generated by AI data centers likely pertains to temporary construction work. On the other hand, it is possible that the much-flaunted "advanced manufacturing" brought in by potential investors such as Foxconn can generate thousands of blue-collar jobs. These jobs, however, will very likely be oriented towards production for export rather than Philippine consumption, simply replicating what is happening in other export processing zones in the country. It is also likely, as is the case in Foxconn's operations in India, that managers, engineers, and technicians will still be sourced from other countries rather than from the Philippines.

Claim #5: Pax Silica will not manufacture weapons, and is intended for commercial AI, semiconductor, and advanced manufacturing industries.
The US has used AI for its military operations, as we are seeing in its current war on Iran. Semiconductors, microchips, and other so-called "high value" electronic products all have military applications in modern warfare. While obvious weapons like missiles and bombs might not be on the table, it would be naive of us to assume that none of the potential products of Pax Silica in the Philippines will be used in the US's ongoing and future war efforts. In fact, BCDA itself apparently cannot categorically state that the project’s products will not be used for war in the long term, stating only that the Pax Silica ESZ “is intended” for commercial products only.

Prof. Giovanni Tapang, PhD, spokesperson of AGHAM: "The BCDA and the Marcos Jr. administration are clearly desperate to whitewash their environmentally destructive and unsustainable Pax Silica project with the United States. The facts are clear — a project of this scale will invariably impact local farming communities negatively, and will not present any clear, long-term opportunities for the genuine development of our country. Like so many projects before it, Pax Silica will only maintain our dependence on foreign companies and their technologies, while Filipinos are stuck with the backbreaking menial labor and the massive environmental cost. Instead of lopsided agreements with a warmongering imperialist power, what we need is a robust national industrialization policy that prioritizes the products Filipinos actually need — food, provision of social services, among many other things — placing people and planet first over profit." #

Sources:

Claim 1
https://capas.gov.ph/socio-economic
Capas Municipal Agriculture Office with ongoing projects for Capas farmers: https://www.facebook.com/p/CAPAS-Municipal-Agriculture-Office-100069022126143/
Pokus Gitnang Luson report on residents affected by Pax Silica: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1640071054792028

Claim 2
https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-data-center-boom-is-a-diesel-generator-boom/
Calculation of land area for solar energy requirements based on MTerra Solar Project data: https://meralcopowergen.com.ph/mterra-solar-project-breaks-ground-a-monumental-milestone-in-the-philippines-renewable-energy-transition/
Projected Pax Silica ESZ energy consumption: https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/7/24/pax-silica-to-build-own-power-sources-to-cover-3-gigawatt-energy-needs-bcda-0000
https://business.inquirer.net/596398/pax-silicas-mammoth-power-needs-draw-maharlika-foreign-interest

Claim 3
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8gy7lv448o

Claim 4
Compare to job creation in other data centers: https://thecurrentga.org/2026/07/22/20-billion-openai-data-center-to-open-in-effingham-county/
Foxconn India job creation: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/foxconn-women-led-iphone-plant-hires-30000-staff-in-record-india-hiring-2839669-2025-12-22
Involvement of Chinese and Taiwanese workers in Foxconn India plant: https://restofworld.org/2025/china-foxconn-factoriesfoxconn-stops-sending-chinese-workers-to-india-iphone-factories/v

Claim 5
AI use in US war on Iran: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/us-military-confirms-use-of-advanced-ai-tools-in-war-against-iran

21/07/2026

20/07/2026

18/07/2026

STATEMENT
AGHAM Negros Island Region
18 July 2026

RSSI WARNS US OF THE SERIOUS IMBALANCE IN OUR ECOSYSTEM

AGHAM Advocates of Science and Technology for the People – Negros warns that RSSI and its rapid spread is an ominous sign that we are not doing right, well and good with our nature.

After some research studies and group discussion circles, AGHAM agri scientists, bio-security experts and advocates revealed that what we hear and told about RSSI and the debate how to solve it is just a scratch on the skin of the problem.

Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) scientifically known “Pulvinaria Tenuivalvata”, a deadly pest that mutate unisexually by itself and rapidly in warm and monocrop system, sapping the juices of plants is now a menace in the sugar industry.

There are several factors that contribute to the rise and rapid spread of RSSI as well as similar pests. One, the heavy chemical-based farm practices so dominant in sugar plantation farms. Decades of this practice has practically toxified sugarfarm soil, extinguished bio predators, and destroyed the ecosystems, both biotic (living organisms) and abiotic components (non living elements like temperature, water and minerals).

Two, the worsening climate crisis as a result of massive plunder and destruction of our nature which provide the bigger umbrella for various ecosystems of soil, forests, grasslands, deserts, aquatic - has raised temperature and humidity which further dampen healthy production and productivity.

Third, the continuing practice of sugar-based monocrop system especially in Negros, have provide best environment for the mutation and spread of tropic-based pests. Unlike in diversified and natural farming system where various plant and/or animal species have their own ecosystems, each ecosysem with own positive predators and unique defenses from different pests - in mono-cropping system it is one flat and same field making it easy for any pest to contaminate everything in one sweeping.

This explains why sugar-based mono-cropping system is the best field for RSSI to mutate, grow and contaminate everything in sweeping manner. If reports are true that there are now 18,000 hectares of sugar farms contaminated by RSSI, this only proves this thesis, and it will prove further that the proposed massive chemical spraying may be able to delay the spread of RSSI but it cannot and will not eliminate the pests.

AGHAM NIR also assumed that RSSI may have been transmitted through contaminated sugarcane ratoon imported legally or illegally from other tropic countries like Africa and India. This is highly possible given the poor bio-security system in quarantine zones in the country’s ports of entry.

There are so many possibilities but the main points to the continuing mono-cropping system exacerbated by climate crisis and bad farming practices and heavy use of chemicals among the sugarcane growers, commercial farms companies and other small farm holders.

For this, AGHAM NIR urges the government, especially the Department of Agriculture and its attached agency Sugar Regulatory Administration in charge of sugar farms, and even the chemical oriented farming communities, to stop deadly farm practices, rid our farms with agro-chemical companies, and re-orient steadily towards natural and diversified farm practices guided by the agro-ecology system, where it harmonizes various ecosystems, optimizes interaction between plants, animals, humans and the environment.

Agro-ecology system is already being used by various progressive farmers groups, the MASIPAG (Farmers scientists Partnership for Development) among others, where they have proven the rebirth of natural farming, and enjoy the endless benefits of diversity or cultivating a variety of crops and integrating livestock to create resilient, balanced ecosystems that mimic nature; synergies or designing farms so different components (e.g., trees, crops, and animals) interact to provide mutual benefits, such as natural pest control and improved microclimate; recycling or enhancing biological processes to recycle biomass, nutrients, and water. Examples include composting and cover cropping; resilience or enhancing the capacity of agricultural systems to absorb disturbances, such as climate shocks, droughts, or market fluctuations.

Combining modern agricultural science with the ancestral, traditional, and practical knowledge of local producers; supporting food systems that provide healthy, culturally appropriate, and diversified diets; and no less, responsible governance, that of ensuring equitable access to land, water, and natural resources for all community members, especially indigenous populations, women, and youth; and no less, the use of circular and solidarity economy or connecting producers and consumers through short, fair supply chains that keep value within the local community.

AGHAM calls on the government to; a) end mono-cropping agricultural farms, and heavy chemical dependent farming system; promote agro-ecology system; improve bio-security system; improve bio-solutions to RSSI and other pest's problems.

AGHAM also demand more subsidy to promote and expand natural and diversified farming systems, and end to land conversion and reclassification which undermine our food security.

Finally, AGHAM demand no less to correct existing state poor budgeting system of prioritizing corruption-ridden infrastructures, and instead more budget for science and technology research development, towards improving our agriculture, improve production system and raise productivity, and improve the quality of life of our farmers.

KARL G. OMBION
Secretary General
AGHAM NIR
09690868514

Noted by:

Bonie Javier (SGD)
AGHAM NIR Agricultural Engineer

Bernard Paul Danggalo (SGD)
AGHAM NIR Biologist

15/07/2026

SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, MATHEMATICIANS, STEM PROFESSIONALS AND ALL SCIENCE AND TECH FOR THE PEOPLE ADVOCATES UNITE AND CONTINUE MAKING SCIENCE TRULY SERVE THE NEEDS OF OUR PEOPLE AND COUNTRY!

14/07/2026

JUSTICE FOR DR. KENT CARPENTER

AGHAM Advocates of Science and Technology for the People – Negros joins the science community, American Marine biologist Dr. Kent Carpenter’s family and kin, in mourning for his untimely passing in his home in Negros Oriental whose decades’ works in the Philippines served as a living testament of making science truly serve the people.

AGHAM – Negros likewise calls for justice to Dr Carpenter for his killing was not only a criminal act but an attack on science, on conservation, and on every Filipino community whose livelihood and future are tied to marine preservation and biodiversity.

AGHAM Negros is aware that Dr. Carpenter's works had drawn the ire of the enemies of marine conservation and plunderers of our marine resources. His killing is the ultimate price for being instrumental to the declaration of Verde Island Passage as the "Center of the Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity" in the world, his firm and consistent stand against the exploration and construction of gas projects in conservation and protected areas, and his unrelenting support to fisherfolk communities affected by fossil fuel and destructive projects to protect the Passage under ENIPAS.

His assessments and species guides became the essential tool for government agencies, NGO’s, universities, and coastal communities safeguarding marine protected areas and administering sustainable fisheries.

Dr. Carpenter was more than just a researcher. He was an educator that taught in our universities, worked with Filipino scholars and scientists, and servant of the earth. To him science must be public, accessible, and use to advance the interests of people and nature.

For this reason, AGHAM Negros counted him as an ally in the struggle for a pro-people and pro-environment science. His killing happens at a time when environmental defenders are under fierce attacks, and worse, with government enmeshed in bureaucratic corruption, and sidelined many issues, concerns and interests of the poor.

AGHAM Negros challenged local and national authorities to conduct an immediate independent, fair and transparent investigation to ensure accountability of the culprits of this heinous crime.

AGHAM Negros together with its national organization also vows to honors Dr. Carpenter by continuing the work he began, use science to defend the Verde Island Passage and all of the country’s biodiverse ecosystems, and demand no less for government support to marine research and development for the protection of scientists and advocates who risk their lives for justice, science knowledge and the environment.

Dr. Kent, Rest in Power!