MANILA, Philippines — Scientists’ group Agham debunked claims on the proposed Pax Silica data center in New Clark City, Tarlac.
Under the United States-led international initiative, a 1,600-hectare high-tech industrial hub in the area will be built aiming to support artificial intelligence infrastructure, data centers, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
While several agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) have defended the project, several environmental and agricultural groups have opposed the plan.
Agham spokesperson professor Giovanni Tapang said that the BCDA has presented an incomplete picture of the potential impacts of the Pax Silica project.
“The BCDA and the Marcos Jr. administration are clearly desperate to whitewash their environmentally destructive and unsustainable Pax Silica project with the United States,” Tapang said.
“The facts are clear – a project of this scale will invariably impact local farming communities negatively, and will not present any clear, long-term opportunities for the genuine development of our country,” he added.
Citing reports from local media, Agham said that the BCDA has already put out an initial list of Project Affected Persons for the project earlier this month, showing that residents of barangays O’Donnel, Aranguren, and Santa Lucia of Capas, Tarlac will be impacted.
According to data from the Capas municipal government, over 30 percent of its land area is considered productive agricultural land.
Agham said that local government projects conducted this year have targeted farmers from the three barangays mentioned, as well as farmers from adjacent barangays who belong to indigenous groups.
“These are the farmers and IP groups that will be displaced. Displacement can be direct physical displacement or indirect displacement by loss of livelihood, and the immense scale of the project will undoubtedly affect the livelihoods of farmers both inside and outside the project area,” the group said.
Agham also debunked the claim that the AI data centers that Pax Silica is courting will run on renewable energy, countering that it will run 24/7 and intermittent energy sources like solar and wind may not be able to supply energy consistently for this purpose because highly dependent on environmental factors.
The scientists’ group said that data centers in the US are reportedly resorting to diesel generators to keep operations running, resulting in massive air pollution.
Surface water harvesting, or rainfall collection, will still mean reducing the water used or available for farmers and their communities, including communities downstream of the project.