The House of Representatives deferred consideration of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority’s (BCDA) proposed ₱1.983-billion budget for 2027, following a motion by the Makabayan bloc over unanswered questions regarding a major industrial project.
The progressive lawmakers moved to stall the budget approval after the BCDA failed to provide detailed explanations and documentation concerning the Pax Silica initiative and the 1,620-hectare Clark Advanced Manufacturing Park (CAMP).
During the budget hearing, Makabayan legislators criticized the BCDA for heavily promoting the Luzon Economic Corridor project despite failing to name any foreign technology companies or investors definitively committed to the hub.
The bloc questioned the BCDA’s offer of roughly 4,000 acres of state land under a two-year lease-free grace period to a Pax Silica Coordination Office, noting the offer was made before the Philippines had formally joined the coalition.
The lawmakers also raised serious human rights and environmental concerns over the development in Capas, Tarlac, citing reports that local farmers in Barangays Sta. Lucia, O’Donnell, Aranguren, and Sapang Kawayan were being offered as low as ₱30 per square meter for their land.
According to the municipal government of Capas, over 30 percent of the targeted site consists of active agricultural land, and a local petition opposing the project has reportedly gathered 400,000 signatures.
Furthermore, the Makabayan bloc challenged the BCDA’s assertion that the project does not require Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
While the BCDA maintained that no formal ancestral domain exists within the CAMP site, lawmakers pointed out that the Aeta Hungey community has an active Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) application spanning the affected barangays, originally filed in 1999 and refiled in 2021. Under National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) rules, areas with pending CADT applications are subject to mandatory consultation.
The progressive bloc declared that the budget deferment will remain in place until the BCDA submits all final and draft agreements with foreign partners, full documentation of the sovereign land offers, historical data on technology transfers, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) clearances, and complete records of local consultations.
The Makabayan bloc continues to demand the outright scrapping of both the Pax Silica initiative and the CAMP project.# (ZIA LUNA)
