Marcos, Rubio reaffirm PH-US ties, tackle Pax Silica initiative

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday reaffirmed the strong bilateral ties between the two countries and discussed the U.S.-led initiative Pax Silica.

Marcos and Rubio met in a courtesy call at Malacañang during the latter’s visit to Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

READ: Rubio in Manila as US hits ‘dangerous’ China actions

“This is a country that has deep ties to the United States, and we have a partnership that has gone strong,” Rubio told Marcos.

“And so we’re glad to be here today to reaffirm that relationship, the US-Philippines relationship,” he also said.

For his part, Marcos said the region is living through the “curse” of “interesting times.”

While the President did not elaborate on the remark, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez explained that Marcos was referring to the current developments in the global landscape.

“It’s interesting times in the sense that there’s so much of these things that are happening and hopefully the partnerships that we’ve had, not only with the United States but other countries as well, will be a source of comfort for us that we have a lot of allies and friends and partners all over the world,” Romualdez told reporters in an ambush interview after the courtesy call.

Romualdez also said China was mentioned “in passing” during the discussion between Marcos and Rubio.

“China of course has always been a situation that is always part of the conversation in the sense that the hope is that countries will have a way to be able to persuade China to be able to respect the rule of law, international law of the seas, and so forth and so on,” he said.

“Paxilica and the Luzon Economic Corridor are two of the main points that President Marcos has expressed. Well, I wouldn’t say gratitude, but he’s very pleased that it’s moving quickly and that will definitely help the Philippine economy,” said Romualdez.

Pax Silica is a US-led coalition of 14 countries that seeks to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy, and logistics.

Group opposes Pax Silica

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), in a statement over the weekend, slammed the government for backing a proposed 1,619-hectare (4,000 acres) economic security zone under the Luzon Economic Corridor, saying the US-initiated project could intensify land grabbing, resource extraction, and militarization in rural areas.

The group described the project as a “massive sellout” of the country’s land, minerals, and sovereignty.

“To be honest, this is war production disguised as ‘so-called development.’ The government is opening our mountains and ancestral lands to more destructive mining and industries that serve foreigners rather than the Filipino people,” it said. /mr