SMC’s airport proposal ‘not dead’—NEDA

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it will review the proposal of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to build a new international airport in Bulacan province as an alternative to the Clark International Airport.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said that San Miguel’s proposal is “still not dead,” noting the unsolicited proposal will be taken up by the NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee before going to the board.

Once approved, Pernia said the San Miguel’s airport project will be subject to a Swiss challenge method. “We are looking at it [San Miguel’s proposal]. We'll let it go through the process and then we will make sure that there will be no conditions. That project is still being considered under the PPP [public-private partnership],” Pernia told reporters.

San Miguel earlier offered to build the new airport in Bulacan, north of Manila, in a revision from its 2014 proposal for a $10-billion airport on a reclaimed part of Metro Manila.

The diversified conglomerate wanted to build an airport with at least four runways and covering 2,000 hectares in Bulacan towns near Manila Bay.

Meanwhile, another conglomerate expressed interest to build an international airport in Sangley Point, Cavite, which Pernia said will also undergo a government process, including its feasibility study.

Henry Sy Sr.'s Belle Corporation has partnered with Wilson Tieng's All-Asia Resources & Reclamation Corporation (ARRC) to propose a new international airport and seaport involving the conversion of the former US Navy station at Sangley Point, Cavite.

ARRC plans to reclaim 2,500 hectares at Sangley Point.

The new airport would be designed to have a capacity of 50 million to 100 million passengers and it would be completed in five years.

In June, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said that it has set aside two unsolicited proposals — Sangley and Bulacan — for a while, in favor of starting the long-postponed development of Clark in Pampanga.