30/08/2026
๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป || ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐
๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ: ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐๐ฑ?
The government wants us to believe that the development of Pax Silica will be good for the country: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, billions of dollars' worth of investments, and thousands of jobs. But before we jump to the conclusion that this will be a breakthrough for the country, we must ask ourselves: who owns, controls, and derives benefit from this development?
Pax Silica is a manifestation of the push by the US government to bolster supply chains for semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals. It has been projected that the Philippines, as part of this initiative, will host a major tech-industrial cluster in New Clark City, and that the government is trumpeting this as a revolutionary turning point in our economy.
However, it is also a fact that in a capitalist mode of production, all developments are geared towards the enhancement of profits of the capitalist class. The process of development, of โproducingโ things, is the process of extracting as much profit as possible out of labor and resources.
Land is prepared, infrastructure is built, resources are extracted, and labor is mobilized, not primarily according to what people need, but according to what can generate returns for those who own capital.
This is why โjob creationโ alone cannot be our measure of progress. Workers may produce enormous amounts of wealth while receiving only a fraction of the value their labor creates. The rest is accumulated by those who own and control capital.
So when the government celebrates billions in investments, we must ask: Billions of dollars for the country, but for whom? Thousands of jobs created, but on what terms and conditions?
Revolutionary breakthroughs are not measured by the amount of investment, but by who controls the means of production.
Who owns the technology that is being developed? Who controls the profits of this industry? That is the real question that we should be asking regarding Pax Silica and its so-called "progress".
The problem is always between who owns and who works. The same logic applies to the environment.
Industrial expansion requires land, water, energy, minerals, and massive infrastructure. The extraction of critical minerals and construction of industrial facilities can place ecosystems and communities at risk.
Yet under capitalism, environmental costs are often socialized while profits remain private. But more importantly, the costs of ecological damage will always be shouldered by the people and the environment, while the profits will be siphoned off by the capitalists.
The people of the Philippines, who are at the front lines of fighting for the environment, have the most to lose and the least to gain in a capitalist system.
This is why we cannot separate the struggle for workersโ rights from the struggle for environmental justice. The people who depend most directly on their communities and natural resources are often the ones with the least power over how those resources are used. Therefore, we must also oppose the exploitation of the environment in the name of "economic development".
We cannot say that something is good because it brings investment; because it brings jobs; because it uses cutting-edge technology; because it is the centre of the tech-industrial world. We cannot use empty buzzwords to distract us from the blatant robbery of Filipino workers by Filipino and foreign capitalists. We cannot ignore the fact that the environment is being ravaged to satisfy the greed of capitalists who care more about their shares and dividends than the future of the people and the country. We cannot be silent while the government promotes projects and programs that benefit the few while the many are being thrown away like garbage after they have served their purpose. We cannot ignore that workers are being exploited just because they do not have the power to negotiate better working conditions.
The people are being deceived into believing that this is a fair system. But it is not a fair system because it is a capitalist system. A system that thrives on exploitation and oppression. A system where technology and production are prioritized over people and the planet.
We reject a system where human labor exists to serve capital, where nature is treated as a commodity, and where progress is measured by how much wealth can be accumulated rather than how well people live.
As the Union of Progressive Students, we refuse to stand by as profit is placed above people and private interests above our collective future. We stand with workers, communities, and all those who resist exploitation and ecological destruction.
Pax Silica is not our future. The future belongs to the people who work, struggle, and fight for it.
Laban para sa tao. Laban para sa kalikasan. Laban para sa kinabukasang atin.
Lagi't Lagi, Para Sa Bayan.
