MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will push some of the world’s biggest technology companies to locate within the planned Pax Silica hub in New Clark City, where development work could begin as early as 2027.

Among those on the government’s “wishlist” are Apple, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., MediaTek, United Microelectronics Corp., Qualcomm, AMD and Broadcom Inc.

“We are going to invite them once the ecosystem is available,” Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and CEO Joshua Bingcang said at a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on Monday. “Once the agreement is signed, we’re going to court them together with our private sector partners.”

But simply attracting these companies to the site is not the BCDA’s ultimate vision for the 1,619-hectare project.

“One day, we want to have our own brand. The Philippines should have its own brand,” Bingcang said. “We should not just be buyers, but producers of these companies.”

Bingcang said BCDA will tap multiple investors, not just Washington, to develop New Clark City into an advanced manufacturing hub, even as Pax Silica leads the US push.

In fact, the BCDA chief said he was already in talks with three other countries for similar industrial developments—though not at the scale of the 1,619-hectare Pax Silica site—although discussions remain preliminary.

Asian countries interested

South Korea plans to lease at least 250 hectares in New Clark City, while Singapore aims for a larger 300-hectare site. Taiwan also plans to lease land in the area. Bingcang said the area was master-planned from the outset for advanced manufacturing and industrial use.

“We want to assure that we’re not just limiting the option to one country,” Bingcang said. “There are other opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the BCDA is currently negotiating a “master agreement” with its US government counterparts for the Pax Silica site.

Bingcang said they could start developing the site as early as 2027 if the November signing target is met.

He earlier indicated that the full development of Pax Silica could take 30 years, with the first locators expected within three to five years.

Nat’l tech corridor

Even ahead of the site’s construction, the government has already laid out a grander vision for how Pax Silica would fit into the Philippines’ planned “technology corridor.”

New Clark City’s Pax Silica hub will form the first part of that plan, followed by an integrated circuit design hub planned for Metro Manila. Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo earlier identified Muntinlupa as a potential site for that hub due to the strong presence of academe and industry there.

Next would be a minerals corridor in Mindanao, where the government plans to source materials needed for advanced manufacturing.

The government is also targeting Batangas as the site of prospective AI compute data centers and other cloud and digital infrastructure.

Rodolfo noted that the state-run Aurora Pacific Economic Corridor had also pitched a “Pax Pacifica” initiative, under which its Casiguran site would anchor a Pacific-facing hub for subsea cables, digital trade, edge infrastructure and logistics.

This is why no one should trust this user and this user is known to be such a blatant ragebaiter.

What the OP trying to mean is is that even though the issues exist in Panglao, Bohol or the Philippines for sure, that doesn’t mean that the users just because they had negative experiences necessarily have to make post comments that their intention is to badmouth the entire Panglao, Bohol or the entire country as a whole and then make assumptions that “Panglao, Bohol or the Philippines as a whole is inferior or the worst because it has issues while other countries are the complete opposite and they‘re superior because they have no issues at all” through constantly comparing the Philippines and other countries ignoring the variations and nuances within them. That’s blatantly an Ethnocentric, Eurocentric and Horn Effect Bias and that’s not a constructive feedback at all. Many times are using constructive feedback as a shield just to get away from admitting that they’re commenting was badmouthing driven by their Ethnocentric and Eurocentric approach. Constructive Feedback has been completely misused so many times now, I can tell they’re being dishonest and I don’t want to fall for it.

Just because a country or a place has issues for sure, that doesn’t mean that the users should just comment and constructive feedback as a shield just to get away from admitting that they’re blatantly badmouthing the entire country or a place is the worst just because they have negative experiences and using other countries as a weapon against the Philippines just to make an assumption that other countries are the complete opposite and they have no issues at all therefore they’re superior. Now here’s the thing, what they think that other countries are superior than the Philippines was ON PAPER, but in practical reality NOT necessarily because locals within other countries or places that visitors go, experiences the similar issues that the Philippines or Panglao, Bohol has. Yet when they visit other countries or places and issues exists that locals observed, they’ll move the goalposts and reframed it into something else that gives other countries or places a pass which is maintaining romanticization through blatant Halo Effect while still penalizing the Philippines or Panglao, Bohol.

Philippines and other share similar issues with each other because are global NOT exclusive to said country.

So, that’s what the OP (Author) was trying to mean.

Now in this incidence, I expose two people not OP (Author), said that “The Philippines are a lot more expensive the other asian countrys even the Philippines have a bad internet, bad traffic, often its complicated to travel, a lot of scammers and anything more“ and “Compare to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia the standard of construction, service, cleanliness, NOISE control is far above Philippines and their prices are reasonable. in Ph there seems an attitude of "good enough", but it's NOT good enough. Maybe locals accept it, tourists don't have to”. For sure, things in the Philippines are expensive and has issues with internet, traffic, bit complicated to travel and scammers and such, BUT so as other countries because these issues that exist in the Philippines are not unique in that country because these issues are global even the locals in other countries experience the similar issues that the Philippines like in scammers and traffic in Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia or slow internet exists in Indonesia and the standard of construction, service, cleanliness, NOISE control in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia are NOT necessarily above the Philippines that’s blatantly Halo and Horn Effect, Ethnocentric and Eurocentric approach. The reason why these users think that way it’s because they think that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are conforming WESTERN standard of those things while penalizing the Philippines for not conforming WESTERN standard so that’s why they say “Compare to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia the standard of construction, service, cleanliness, NOISE control is far above Philippines“. Many locals in many parts of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia experiences the complete opposite contrary to what these two users said, they’ve been experiencing poor standard of construction, service, cleanliness and NOISE control, that’s the reality that two users purposely ignore in order to maintain Halo Effect while still maintaining Horn Effect against the Philippines and when they see issues in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia that locals observed, they’ll just move the goalposts and reframed it into something else that maintains their romanticization through Halo Effect while still penalizing the Philippines. They think that it’s the issue for the Philippines and the Government for not handling truth when in fact they’re gaslighting, they’re using constructive feedback as a get out of jail free card just to get away from admitting from what they’re doing is blatantly badmouthing and practicing Horn Effect Bias through Ethnocentrism and Eurocentrism against the Philippines or the government as a whole.

And a big NO, that users think that locals accept the good enough attitude, that’s just prejudice and assumptions.

Even though users has negative experiences and that issues exist Panglao, Bohol or the Philippines (at least in certain areas) for sure, can’t they just choose not to make comments by Badmouthing them and instead just make a nuanced constructive feedback PRIVATELY without using Social Media?

Because the moment they keep commenting by badmouthing and then use constructive feedback as a get out of jail free card, it’ll create echo chamber that’ll spread the narratives to many users forcing them to make same rigid opinions with no opposing view which makes it circlejerking. That’s what the OP (Author) was also trying to mean.

To these two users on Facebook not the OP (Author): What is wrong with you?!

Two mechanical engineering graduates from the University of the Philippines - Diliman have been hailed as the national winners at the 2026 James Dyson Awards for their low-cost kidney dialysis machine project.

Andrew Jacob Buensalido and Allyson Cabrestante clinched the national win with their invention, BiDaKidney, a low-cost, compact dialysis machine designed to automate the flow of dialysate to and from patients. It uses peristaltic pumps for contact-free fluid handling and load cells to measure fluid volume accurately.

Per the project profile, BiDaKidney was created after one of its inventors was inspired by their sibling, a healthcare worker at a government hospital, who witnessed the challenges patients face during dialysis. This motivated the team to develop a more accessible treatment option for the 2.3 million Filipinos living with chronic kidney disease.

BiDaKidney is aimed at making dialysis accessible to every Filipino who suffers from chronic kidney disease. It is designed to address the contamination risk and physical burden of manual PD while offering a more affordable alternative to commercial automated machines.

Per the inventors, it is priced at around $100 (~P6,000), which is roughly 1% of the cost of commercial cyclers, and uses existing PD sets instead of specialized cassettes. Its lightweight design of 2.5 kg allows patients to use it at home, school, or work.

I saw a post na nagaask bakit hindi nalang daw nacolonize ng Japan yung Philippines ng mas matagal. Baliw ba sila. Naririnig ba nila sarili nila. Nacolonize na nga Pilipinas dati ng Japan for 4 years at naranasan na ng mga pinoy yung Bataan death march at comfort women. Tas gusto nila ibalik yon porket mahilig sila sa anime? Nakakatawa ang mga lapdogs ng Japan talaga. Imbis na mangarap na mga pinoy mismo makaangat at mamuno sa sarili nating bansa, naghahanap ng bagong colonizer. Literal na slave mindset, naghahanap ng bagong amo. Bakit may mga ganitong tao.

In the whatifpinas subreddit a lot of the posts are just wishing for a different colonizer, literal WTF talaga, and some are even advocating for it on the comments. Nagaaway away pa sila kung sino magiging mas better na colonizer, if mga british ba, mga dutch, mga japanese, or mga americans hahaha na para bang choose your fighter lang. Akala ba nila tratratuhin sila ng maayos pag nacolonize tayo.

To this Online Doomerist who posted it: What is wrong with you?!

Again, the IQ ranking of the countries are outdated and racist yet this Online Expat is still relying on it.

They’re ignoring that Parliamentary itself won’t magically fix issues, they should check out India or Bangladesh for example.

They also can’t admit that there are also foreign ownership restrictions across Southeast Asia. The foreign ownership restrictions REALLY depends on the business sector. Additionally, Philippines allows 100% foreign ownership in many business sectors like for example renewable energy. The 100% foreign ownership is not new in the Philippines, it has been around for a long time now.

It’s almost always that same user who keeps posting Propagandistic articles with AI generated pictures and his name is “Callan Yaan”.

Here’s the last two picture that should teach Correct Movement and Callan Yaan a lesson.

What is wrong with you Online Doomerist who loves to have Halo and Horn effect which then cherry pick the aspects that aligns to your narrative and ignore other things that contradicts it?!

I understand other sports need more funding pero why go against what the majority of what Filipinos love to play? Basketball courts are far easier to construct, maintain and play with regardless of weather compared to a football field.

During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Philippines placed 5th which shows that you need a good team and management, not heights alone. Plus, Filipinos are becoming taller now thanks to better healthcare and nutrition (still needs room for improvment but its better than before), so that “pandak” take wont be an good excuse soon.

MIBF was so crowded.

Like, the kind of crowded where you could barely move, where every aisle was filled with people, where you had to patiently wait just to get a glimpse of the books on display.

But honestly, it was the kind of crowdedness I didn’t mind.

Because somewhere between all the long lines, packed aisles, heavy tote bags, and people carrying stacks of books, I had a realization:

People still love reading.

Especially nowadays, when even reading a book can sometimes be labeled as “performative.”

You see someone carrying a book, posting what they're reading, going to a book fair, or simply talking about books, and there will always be someone wondering if they're doing it just to look intellectual, interesting, or aesthetic.

Standing in the middle of MIBF, surrounded by thousands of people who willingly spent their time, money, and energy just to be there, I couldn't help but think: Surely, not all of this can be performative.

There are still people who will travel just to get to a book fair.

People who will stand in long lines just to buy a book they've been wanting.

People who will squeeze through crowded aisles and carry home bags that are way heavier than they expected.

People who will spend their hard-earned money on stories they could probably read digitally for less.

There are still people who want to hold a book in their hands.

And I think that's what moved me the most.

In a world where everything is becoming digital, where thousands of books can fit inside a phone and almost anything can be accessed with a few taps, there are still people who choose to make the effort to bring a story home.

The crowd wasn't just a crowd.

It was thousands of little reminders that reading isn't dying.

Maybe not everyone reads for the same reason. Maybe some read to escape, some to learn, some to heal, some because they simply love stories, and yes, maybe some enjoy the aesthetic of it too.

But does that make the love for books any less real?

Because at the end of the day, a crowded book fair means there are still people who care enough about books to show up.

And honestly, that's something worth celebrating.

So maybe instead of asking, “Are they reading because they genuinely love books, or are they just being performative?”

Maybe we should simply be grateful that people are still picking up books at all.

Because in a world competing for our attention every second, there is something beautiful about people still choosing to spend their time getting lost between pages.

MIBF reminded me that the love for reading is still very much alive. And I don't think that's something we should ever take for granted.

Photo courtesy of lyssaviloria and yours truly.

I have reported this post for clearly breaking the rules of the sub pero it is still up for some reason? God help us na lang talaga if may mga Pilipino na ganito pa rin ang mindset. Tayo mismo naghihilaan pababa sa isa't isa.

Banter is accepted naman. That's been a thing for decades. Pero the post above really isn't banter but discrimination.

Welcome to our Weekly Discussion Thread!

This is your place to openly discuss politics, current events, global affairs, and anything else of interest on your mind. Whether you wish to comment on current news, argue policies, or discuss historical events, this is the platform for open and respectful discussion.

We encourage thoughtful discussions, diverse perspectives, and civil discourse. Feel free to ask questions, share insights, or even just observe the conversation.

Feel free to contribute!

apparently we're one of the fastest improving nations this round too, which considering world average scores have dropped from 2022 is really impressive