Philippines rejects US diplomatic immunity at planned AI hub

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has denied the United States’ request for diplomatic immunity for its personnel in the planned AI industrial hub inside New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

“No special arrangement to be accorded to the US government,” Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and CEO Joshua Bingcang told reporters during the unveiling of the marker for the planned AI hub.

“That’s their request. But we did not agree to that,” he said.

“There are two laws that will gov- ern the transaction here – the Inves- tors’ Lease Act and then the BCDA Law, as just confirmed by the Department of Justice, so it will be treated as a regular business development contract,” Bingcang said.

He was replying to a question about a Wall Street Journal report that US personnel of the proposed AI hub will have diplomatic immunity.

The development of the country’s critical minerals into “green-tech” technology is also expected under the Pax Silica initiative, with the government rejecting claims that this will turn the Philippines into a war production hub.

Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg led Monday the unveiling of the proposed 4,000-acre AI hub to be established under the US-led multilateral Pax Silica Initiative.

The State Department said the zone is intended to be a first-of-its-kind industrial hub designed to boost production of inputs vital to global supply chains and to provide a significant contribution to advancing the vision of the Luzon Economic Corridor.

“For years, American firms have come to Asia in search of speed and scale. They found both, and the bedrock of the modern AI economy was built on that bargain. But the bargain has changed: today’s status quo supply chains have become predictably unreliable,” Helberg said.

“American firms are now grappling with a need they were not forced to weigh a decade ago – the need for predictability, reliability and certainty alongside the speed and scale that brought them to this region in the first place,” he added.

He said the build-out of AI is creating a surge in demand at every level of the chain – chips, metals, magnets, motors, packaging, test capacity, actuators and energy.

“Growth on that scale requires certainty of supply. The present arrangement is already failing today. And it is entirely ill-equipped for the future bearing down on us,” he said.

Helberg brought US investors during his visit to the proposed site Monday.

“As the agreement that we signed makes clear, we now have a two-year window we’re going to negotiate terms. At the end of the day we both share the goal of ensuring investors’ protection,” Helberg said. “And so now we’re going to begin negotiations and having a discussion about the best way to advance investment protections in the hub.”