SAN MIGUEL PURSUES INFRA INVESTMENTS, CAPACITY EXPANSION

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will go full blast with high-impact investments in infrastructure and new manufacturing facilities, further scaling up its own portfolio while helping rebuild the wider economy during this economic recession induced by the new coronavirus pandemic.

“We are still dealing with a crisis today. Until there’s a cure for COVID-19, we cannot let our guard down. We are determined to work smart and safe and do our part to help our economy, our country and people during this critical time,” SMC president Ramon Ang said during the company’s stockholders meeting on Tuesday.

“The best way we can do this is to continue, and not scale back, on investments in infrastructure and capacity expansion, as well as provide support for the poor, and other key sectors such as agriculture and the health industry,” Ang said.

Among SMC’S upcoming facilities are 12 feed mills of one million annual tons capacity each, expanded poultry farms and a poultry processing facility; new breweries in Cagayan de Oro and Santa Rosa in Laguna, the new unit of Masinloc Power Plant, and ongoing infrastructure projects such as: Skyway 3, Skyway extension, Skyway 4, Metro Railway Transit 7, and Tarlac-pangasinan-la Union Expressway.

Ang affirmed SMC’S determination to help the wider economy recover from the effects of the pandemic by pouring resources into creating jobs, helping the poor, building resilience among vulnerable sectors and increasing the nation’s capacity to test in order to save more lives.

This Friday, Ang reported that the group’s COVID-19 testing laboratory along Edsa Mandaluyong was set to open with the capacity of 4,000 confirmatory tests per day, expandable to 12,000 per day if needed.

Ang added that all of SMC’S ongoing major projects—including the construction of new manufacturing facilities in various regions nationwide and major infrastructure projects such expressways, railways, and its proposed airport in Bulacan province—would go on as planned.

“All our major, important projects will continue. Before the pandemic, and even more so now, we believe these projects will be key to making more Filipinos resilient, by providing jobs and boosting local economies, which in turn will provide livelihood opportunities,” Ang said.

“With more manufacturing facilities in key regions that provide direct jobs and downstream employment, infrastructure that increases mobility and ease of trade, and sufficient and reliable access to power and fuel, we hope to help our economy through this crisis and boost our nation’s recovery,” he added.