Philippines not for Sale! Shut Down Pax Silica!

As Pres. Marcos Jr. continues his efforts to sell off Philippine sovereignty, he convened the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Investment Forum from September 10-11, which brought together some of the Philippines’, the United States’, and Japan’s most corrupt officials, along with hundreds of greedy corporate representatives and private investors, in Taguig City. Meanwhile, hundreds of Filipinos gathered outside en masse to oppose the US–Marcos plan to freely give 4,000 acres of land for the expansion of US AI-powered warfare through the Pax Silica Initiative.

The Luzon Economic Corridor and the Pax Silica initiative were presented at the forum as projects for “economic development” and technological integration but, as the mass movement continues to argue, their only function is to turn the Philippines, our land, and our resources into a military weapons manufacturer for U.S. led wars.

Marcos Jr. is retaliating against all those speaking out against Pax Silica and LEC with martial law tactics initially developed from his fascist father. The police maliciously targeted the peaceful demonstrators on September 10th, attempting to criminalize dissent and continuing to harass activists and even paralegals.

As BAYAN USA, we strongly condemn the violent dispersal by the police and private security personnel of BGC with 27 protesters injured, 5 paralegals arrested (who, as of this writing, have been released), and 3 people facing trumped up charges, including BAYAN Chairperson, Teddy Casiño.

In a recent list shared by BAYAN President Renato Reyes Jr, - the Investors Forum had over 600 foreign investors and several key firms and officials deeply tied to global militarism and defense contracting. This includes the following U.S. based companies:

• AeroVironment (Sean Colvin):

  Major U.S. defense contractor producing military drones and tactical missiles.

  241 18th Street South, #650 Arlington, VA 22202

• Versar Global Solutions (Suzanne Bates, John Ouellette):

  DoD contractor specializing in military base operations and warzone infrastructure.

  1025 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 500,

  Washington, DC 20005

• Relyant Global (Nina Teresa Wight):

  Private military contractor providing combat support, risk management, and logistics.

  335 High Street, Maryville, TN 37804.

• U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (PACOM) (Kellie Landauer):

  Direct military-strategic command representation managing regional defense posture.

  Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, U.S.

• Radisys Corporation (Sameer Bhandari):

  Provider of telecom infrastructure integrated into U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin 5G military systems.

  1500 NW Bethany Boulevard, Suite 125

  Beaverton, OR 97006

• Cerberus Capital Management (Greg Metro):

  Private equity firm heavily invested in military training contractors (Tier 1 Group) and defense logistics (IAP).

  875 Third Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10022.

With Marcos selling out the Philippines to the United States through the LEC and Pax Silica and the continued escalation of his fascist tactics—like the recent announcement of 15,000 Philippine National Police Officers being deployed for the September 21 martial law anniversary protest in the Philippines—we as BAYAN USA call on our kababayan to join the U.S.-wide launch of the Shut the Pax Down Coalition on September 20 and enliven the mass movement during the week of action from September 20–27.

Together, let us confront Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez and all representatives of the U.S.-Marcos regime who will attend the United Nations General Assembly to advance the agenda of the U.S. and sell out the Filipino people.