Unlike Vice President Sara Duterte, who knew nothing about Pax Silica, church groups came prepared when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned the planned artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Tarlac during his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines (CMSP), a 71-year-old group of Catholic religious superiors, said that initiatives like Pax Silica “risk depleting our waters, displacing Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral domains, and exploiting the resources of Mother Earth.”
“How can there be peace when creation is wounded, and communities are uprooted?” said the CMSP.
The Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS), an ecumenical group that includes Catholics and Protestants alike, also sounded the alarm on Pax Silica ahead of Marcos’ SONA.
“While such projects may offer opportunities for technological advancement and economic growth, they must be carefully evaluated in the light of their impact on workers, local communities, indigenous peoples, the environment, and the long-term interests of the Filipino nation,” said the CWS.
