Joining the BCDA Family: Building the Philippines’ Sovereign Future at Morong

BCDA - Brightside Signing Ceremony

On June 15, 2026, Brightside signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), officially joining the BCDA family and taking an important step toward helping build the Philippines’ sovereign digital future.

The ceremony itself was simple. The significance behind it was not.

When BCDA President and CEO Joshua “Jake” Bingcang welcomed Brightside as the newest member of the BCDA family, he welcomed more than a project. He welcomed a shared vision for what the Philippines can become when government and private industry work together to build long-term national capability.

For me, this moment was also deeply personal.

During the ceremony, I shared a story that began more than eighty years ago in Bataan.

My uncle survived the Bataan Death March because a young Filipina woman refused to let him die. She cared for him, protected him, and ultimately became his wife. Their story became part of my family history and a reminder passed down through generations that courage often arrives through simple acts of kindness.

Some debts can never truly be repaid.

They can only be honored.

That is one of the reasons Brightside came to the Philippines.

We did not come simply to build infrastructure. We came to help build capability. We came to invest in a nation whose people have already given far more to the world than they often receive credit for.

Bataan Technology Park

At Morong Discovery Park in Bataan, Brightside, together with SES and our Philippine partners, will develop a sovereign teleport and gateway hub that will serve as a critical foundation for the nation’s future communications infrastructure. The facility is designed to support government services, defense communications, disaster response, education, healthcare, banking, and economic growth while ensuring that critical infrastructure remains under Philippine control.

The project also supports a larger national vision that has recently gained renewed momentum.

On June 2, 2026, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in his role as Chairman of the Philippine Space Council, reaffirmed the importance of strengthening the country’s space capabilities and advancing a sovereign national space program. His declaration reflects a growing recognition that space is no longer simply a matter of communications. It is now fundamental to national development, economic competitiveness, disaster resilience, and national security.

In an increasingly uncertain Indo-Pacific region, sovereign space infrastructure provides strategic advantages that extend far beyond connectivity. A sovereign satellite capability enhances situational awareness, strengthens emergency response, protects critical communications during crises, and ensures that the Philippines retains control over essential national assets when they are needed most.

The BIYAYA sovereign satellite program, supported by the Morong teleport and gateway, represents an important step toward that future.

But this effort is about more than satellites.

It is about creating opportunities for Filipino engineers, scientists, technicians, researchers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs. It is about building an ecosystem where advanced technology is designed, operated, and expanded by Filipino talent for future generations.

The BCDA has spent decades transforming former military lands into engines of national development. Clark, Bonifacio Global City, New Clark City, John Hay, and Poro Point stand as examples of what can be accomplished when vision is matched by execution.

We are honored to join that tradition.

The Memorandum of Understanding we signed is not the destination.

It is the beginning.

It is a promise to build something worthy of the trust that has been placed in us.

None of this would be possible without the dedication and leadership of our Brightside Group Philippines team. I extend my deepest gratitude to our Chairman, former Philippine Secretary of National Defense and Retired Major General Delfin N. Lorenzana, and to our Senior Vice President, Socorro "Cory" Quirino, whose leadership, guidance, and commitment have been instrumental in helping transform this vision into reality. Their efforts, together with the hard work of our entire Philippine team, have helped bring us to this important milestone.

From Morong Discovery Park, the Philippines will strengthen its sovereign presence in space, expand its digital future, and create new opportunities for generations to come.

And for me personally, it is also a chance to honor a debt that began in Bataan generations ago.

Some debts can never be repaid.

But they can be remembered.

And they can be honored through the work we choose to do.

~ Christopher Harriman, President & CEO, Brightside Industries Group, LLC