By Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter
US PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump will visit Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in November, Malacañang said on Wednesday, as the Philippines and the US negotiate an agreement for a multibillion-dollar technology hub in New Clark City.
“It is confirmed,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters. “The details, perhaps, will not come from me.”
The Palace declined to say whether Mr. Trump’s visit would coincide with the signing of an agreement for the proposed Pax Silica industrial hub, which is expected to attract as much as $70 billion (P4.4 billion) in investments.
The visit will be Mr. Trump’s second to the Philippines as president, following his attendance at the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila in November 2017.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has declared Nov. 16 to 18 special nonworking days in Metro Manila for the 49th ASEAN Summit, which will bring together Southeast Asian leaders and their counterparts from other countries.
Manila and Washington have expanded defense and economic cooperation under the Marcos administration.
Mr. Marcos met Mr. Trump at the White House on July 22, 2025 to discuss trade and defense. The two leaders also spoke by phone in July about economic developments and regional security, including the South China Sea.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Mr. Marcos in Manila in July on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, describing the US-Philippine alliance as a longstanding strategic partnership.
The Philippines joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative in April as part of efforts to boost supply chains for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) and other strategic technologies.
The proposed industrial hub in New Clark City, Pampanga is also part of the Luzon Economic Corridor, an economic cooperation initiative involving the Philippines, the US and Japan.
Ms. Castro on Tuesday said the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) had submitted the legal framework for the proposed 1,620-hectare advanced manufacturing park to Mr. Marcos for review.
“As BCDA and its US development partner continue to discuss the details of the partnership agreement, the expected signing of the agreement is before the end of 2026,” she added.
Malacañang earlier said the project would require presidential approval before it could proceed.
The BCDA estimates that the industrial hub could attract $40 billion to $70 billion in investments and generate 130,000 to 190,000 jobs once fully developed.
Initial development would cover about 500 hectares of the proposed site, with construction targeted to begin within three to five years.
Mr. Marcos expressed enthusiasm for the initiative at the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore last week, describing Pax Silica as a “grand opportunity” for the Philippines.
The project has drawn opposition from civil society groups and local leaders who warned that its development could displace communities in New Clark City.
Mr. Marcos rejected concerns that foreign technology investments would threaten local livelihoods, saying the industrial hub would create employment opportunities.
“I cannot see how such a development will endanger local livelihood,” he told reporters in Manila on Tuesday. “This is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs.”
The President said the project forms part of the Philippines’ strategy to secure a greater role in global technology supply chains as the digital economy and AI industries expand.
“This is part of what we have done in positioning the Philippines within the supply chain, the value chain of what is the emerging industry of the digital economy and, of course, the onset of AI,” he said.
Mr. Marcos said the strategy built on regional initiatives developed during the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship, including a roadmap for artificial intelligence.
“One of the things that we did as the chair of ASEAN was to define the roadmap for ASEAN for AI,” he said. “But that was even before the whole idea of Pax Silica emerged.”