27/07/2026
๐ก๐ข ๐ง๐ข ๐ฃ๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐!
UP Ecotour stands for environmental protection and the advancement of sustainable tourism. In line with this advocacy, we condemn the establishment of the U.S.-led "Pax Silica" economic and geopolitical security framework, which is set to occupy 1,600 hectares of land in New Clark City. Designed to secure global supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors, chips, and critical minerals, this project places immense pressure on the Philippines' land, natural resources, and communities in pursuit of foreign technological interests.
The scale of this project makes its consequences impossible to ignore. It is projected to consume 65 to 90 million liters of water every day and at least 5 gigawatts of electricityโenough to power approximately 3.5 to 5 million households. Its enormous demand for critical minerals will intensify destructive mining, accelerate resource extraction, and further degrade ecosystems already under increasing environmental strain.
Yet its impact extends far beyond the depletion of natural resources. The occupation of 1,600 hectares of land will displace Aeta communities and farmers from the lands that sustain their lives and livelihoods. Forests will be cleared, wildlife will lose its habitat to industrial development and noise pollution, and ecosystems that have long supported both people and biodiversity will be irreversibly disrupted. These are not unfortunate side effects of developmentโthey are its direct consequences.
Taken together, these realities expose the true cost of Pax Silica. No amount of promised investment or technological advancement justifies sacrificing our lands, waters, ecosystems, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and farming communities. We refuse to allow the country's natural wealth to be traded away for a model of development that leaves Filipinos to bear its environmental and social costs.
This is precisely why we reject the attempt to frame Pax Silica as merely an economic development project. It is an extractive model that demands Filipino land, minerals, water, and labor to secure the technological future of wealthier nations. While foreign industries stand to benefit, Filipino communities face displacement, environmental degradation, and the loss of the very resources on which their futures depend. This is not partnership or shared progress. It is an exploitative project that asks Filipinos to bear the environmental and social costs of another nation's technological ambitions.
For us as students of tourism, these realities are neither distant nor unfamiliar. Tourism has long shown that development pursued without justice and accountability often comes at the expense of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and the environments they have protected for generations. As advocates of sustainable tourism, we refuse to accept a model of development that treats communities as obstacles, ecosystems as expendable, and environmental destruction as the price of economic growth. We call on fellow students and the public to stand with affected communities and reject projects that sacrifice people and the environment in the name of progress.
Because of this, silence is not an option. We refuse to accept displacement as an acceptable cost of development or consent as an obstacle to be managed rather than a right to be upheld. No promise of technological advancement justifies sacrificing our land, water, ecosystems, and communities for foreign interests. We reject Pax Silica unequivocally and call on our fellow students, institutions, and the Filipino people to oppose its implementation.
๐ง๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐๐!
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ง!
๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ก๐!
