Notice how fast they push this project forward, yet drag their feet on everything that actually helps the Filipino people? It is clear whose interests are truly being prioritized, and it is not ours.

The Pax Silica project sounds impressive at first glance. Investments from foreign ventures, new industries arising, a chance to stop shipping our raw materials out and actually build things here—which causes us to innovate as a nation. However, if we look closer, what you see is not a partnership. It is a one-sided arrangement being pushed through, while most Filipinos are kept in the dark.

Most of the major media outlets have either stayed silent entirely, or only repeated the government and foreign talking points: jobs, progress, and supply chains. They rarely ask about the hidden terms, military ties, or what this means for our sovereignty. Critical questions are almost never treated as news. No major newsroom has fully reviewed the documents, checked confidentiality clauses, or asked: does this serve our goals, or someone else’s?

Official press releases about the project’s supposed purpose tend to ignore the risks and fabricate the picture as if this initiative carries no downsides at all. The important details regarding how the land will be used, how the environment is protected, and the negative effects to people residing nearby are nowhere to be found in regular reports.

On top of that, artificial intelligence (AI) and high-tech systems are proven to have its cons. Jobs may be lost to automation, nearby communities face risks from excess noise, heat, and heavy water consumption. The environmental toll of these facilities is rarely acknowledged upfront. Result? The public gets polished press releases instead of facts.

Meanwhile, what we get in return is impossible to miss. This project takes up to 4,000 acres of land that could be used to grow food, build housing, or support farmers at a time when hunger and poverty are already tearing families apart. Our country was once known for its rich land and resources. Now, both are being sacrificed for promises we may never see fulfilled.

We hold the minerals the world cannot do without: nickel for batteries and chips, cobalt for electric vehicles and AI hardware, copper for semiconductors, chromite for industrial alloys. For generations, we have shipped them out raw, and we have earned the smallest share of their true worth.

Pax Silica claims we will finally process these minerals here. However, their terms are unfair. We pay a 19% tax just to sell our own processed goods to them, while for them? They sell their products to us completely tax-free. And what does this mean? They keep the profit, we keep the costs. We give our resources and land, they set the price and keep the advantage. This is clearly a one-sided exploitation.

Israeli Ambassador Dana Kursh had put it plainly: “You have plenty of nickel… What Israel has to offer is the tech side.” The United States and Israel are two of the most contested nations worldwide. If this serves their military and global goals, we become tied to conflicts and consequences we never even agreed to, and we will be the ones paying the price.

People are asking the hard questions everyone fails to address: Who truly benefits? Will workers be paid fairly, or will investors take most of the returns? Are we trading our independence and our land for a deal that serves foreign interests more than our own? And why was this not discussed on the news we were supposed to turn to? Should the Filipinos not be told the facts that shape their future?

A free press is meant to demand answers and expose gaps. Right now, it is failing us. The media stays silent or repeats only the information they are being provided. In a democracy, these very people must give us all the facts, not just praise towards the government’s plans. Because without that truth, we cannot defend our future.

Our resources, our land, and our right to decide our own path are not up for trade for someone else’s agenda. We are not begging these countries for their investment or favors; they are begging for what belongs to us. That is why we have no reason to accept this unfair and one-sided deal. Those who signed this initiative, and the parties running the Pax Silica project itself, must be held fully accountable to Philippine laws and our sovereignty. Until we get full transparency, independent scrutiny, and honest answers, we will not stay silent. Enough is enough. PAX this shit.

The Frontman