NGO sounds alarm on PH joining Pax Silica: Whose interest does it serve?

PRE-SONA FORUM. The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) holds 'The Presidency and the People’s Trust: Governance, Accountability, and National Sovereignty' in partnership with the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication on July 21, 2026.

Photo by Isabel Victorino

'Let us reserve our natural resources and mineral resources for our own agricultural modernization and industries,' CenPEG director Bobby Tuazon says at their annual forum on the state of the presidency ahead of President Marcos' 5th SONA

MANILA, Philippines – Concerns about the Philippines’ participation in the Pax Silica initiative came into focus at a forum on the state of the presidency ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 27.

The US-led initiative was among the issues discussed at the Center for People Empowerment in Governance’s (CenPEG) forum, “The Presidency and the People’s Trust: Governance, Accountability, and National Sovereignty,” held in partnership with the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication on Tuesday, July 21.