MALACAÑANG said no company has formally applied to build a data center under the United States-led Pax Silica initiative, even as the government left open the possibility of such facilities being located outside New Clark City.
‘If they are talking about other locations not within New Clark City-there is no proposal for it yet, according to the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry],’ Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in Filipino at a press briefing on Tuesday.
During a House Committee on Appropriations hearing last week, the DTI assured lawmakers that no artificial intelligence (AI) data centers would be built within the proposed 1,600-hectare advanced manufacturing hub in New Clark City, Tarlac.
‘Specifically, allow us to reiterate on the Clark Advanced Manufacturing part, there will be no data centers,’ Castro said.
The DTI, however, said such facilities could still be built elsewhere in locations with adequate power and water supply.
Last July, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said around 30 companies had expressed interest in participating in the Pax Silica initiative, including one or two data center operators.
Several lawmakers, civic groups and other sectors have opposed the proposed Pax Silica initiative, which seeks to attract high-tech manufacturing investments to the country, amid concerns that it could include AI data centers with large energy and water requirements.
Citing the DTI, Castro assured that all locators participating in Pax Silica would be required to comply with government regulations.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), meanwhile, said it has yet to issue an environmental impact assessment for the proposed Pax Silica industrial hub in New Clark City.
The BCDA earlier said it is targeting the signing of a framework agreement for the implementation of the Pax Silica initiative by November, subject to the approval of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.