Joint statement of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) andInternational League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Philippines
We strongly reject the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Investment Forum as a massive sellout of Philippine patrimony and sovereignty to foreign interests. This US-sponsored auction of infrastructure projects will not industrialize the economy but will merely facilitate the wanton plunder of our resources.
We must note that a centerpiece of the LEC is the highly controversial Pax Silica’s Economic Security Zone (ESZ), which will displace Indigenous and farming communities and plunder our critical minerals nationwide. At the same time, because the LEC is apparently designed to also support American military presence and projection, it will further expose the Filipino people to US wars and conflicts.
It is condemnable that a foreign entity, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), is running an event on our own territory to decide the future of our economic development and the use of our lands and resources. The USTDA is the US government’s first mover on infrastructure development projects abroad that are critical to American strategic interests. As the sponsor of the LEC Investment Forum, it designed the program and agenda for the gathering that will convene hundreds of foreign investors, industry leaders, and government officials.
The Americans are calling the shots in the conduct of this grand event since the LEC was conceived by the US as part of its broader strategy to compete with China. Launched in 2024 by the US, Japan, and the Philippines, the LEC was established under the umbrella of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) – a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by the US and other G7 countries.
Through the LEC, the US is creating profit opportunities for American, Japanese, and other allied foreign firms, in partnership with the biggest Filipino oligarchs. It builds the infrastructure the US needs to advance its Pax Silica agenda to control supply chains for critical minerals and artificial intelligence.
An example is the 232-kilometer Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas (SCMB) Freight Railway, considered the LEC’s flagship transport project and structural backbone. To build the cargo railway, the USTDA is providing technical assistance to help the Marcos government get a loan from the Japanese-controlled Asian Development Bank (ADB). American companies are expected to profit from exporting rail technologies, equipment, and services for the project. It will also benefit the country’s largest global port operator, Enrique Razon, since the railway will connect his Subic and Manila international container terminals. The SCMB railway would be crucial for transporting critical minerals mined from different parts of the country to Pax Silica’s ESZ in Capas, Tarlac, and for export to the US and other allied countries.
Such is the case for other big-ticket infrastructure projects within the economic corridor. Facilitated by the USTDA and the State Department, American investment firms and local oligarchs Pangilinan, Aboitiz, and Ayala are partnering to implement projects in transportation and logistics, energy security and industrial power, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
But the LEC is beyond simple infrastructure development and extends beyond commercial opportunities for American industry. It is a strategic component of Washington’s broader Indo-Pacific agenda to reinforce the First Island Chain and counter China’s regional presence. The geographical alignment of LEC projects, clustering near key military sites, EDCA bases, and strategic transport hubs, underscores their potential dual-use nature. Major transport, logistics, digital, and semiconductor infrastructure developed under the corridor can easily serve both commercial supply chains and defense operations.
The corridor’s military function is already evident in Subic, where the Agila Subic Shipyard serves as a strategic naval-industrial hub. Managed by Pentagon contractor V2X, it enables forward maintenance and repair for US and allied warships, keeping them deployed in the region without returning to the US mainland. Furthermore, planned ammunition production and storage facilities in Subic will strengthen forward-staged defense infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific. Additionally, Pax Silica’s ESZ could manufacture semiconductors and chips for industrial and military uses.
We condemn the brazen subservience of the Marcos regime to the US imperialist agenda and oligarchic interests. It has actively crafted new policies to promote the LEC and attract foreign investors, including the recent Executive Order 122, which will accelerate and expand critical mineral mining nationwide for Pax Silica.
National development and genuine industrialization require full sovereignty over our land, resources, and infrastructure, not their conversion into assets for foreign military and economic dominance. Behind the forum’s slogans of connectivity and growth lies an imperialist project that reshapes Philippine territory to advance US strategic interests and foreign capital. We must reject the LEC and the submission of our national development to foreign powers.
#ImperyalismoIbagsak#AtinAngPinas#PHNotForSale#NoToPaxSilica