SMC agrees to shoulder ROW costs for Bulacan airport project
The much-awaited Bulacan international airport proposed by San Miguel Corp. is set to make significant progress after the conglomerate decided to shoulder the costs for securing necessary local government permits and right-of-way (ROW) acquisitions.
Speaking at the 44th Philippine Business and Conference Expo yesterday, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade disclosed that San Miguel, courtesy of its president Ramon Ang, decided to absorb supposed government costs as part of the concession agreement for the Bulacan airport project.
This was later on confirmed by Ang himself, noting that the costs necessary to secure local government permits and right of way acquisitions were among the issues that have been part of the detailed discussions on the concession agreement between his company and the DOTr.
“There were a lot of things that cannot be agreed upon so we said we will now shoulder right of way as well as payment for local government permits. In short, we will pay for everything so there will be nothing more to fight with,” Ang said.
Ang said the Bulacan airport is a “high-risk project,” but his company is willing to proceed with it given its many benefits to the Filipinos.
“The proponent is risking a lot that is why we are very careful. We are risking the future of the company,” he added.
Given the positive development on SMC and DOTr’s negotiations, Tugade said he would issue next week a “certificate of successful negotiation.”
“I will issue a certificate of successful negotiation, then on that basis it will go to NEDA. I will still go after my deadline (that this will be completed) by end of the year, including the Swiss challenge,” Tugade said.
Tugade said the DOTr has yet to look into the amount of savings the government would realize following San Miguel’s decision to absorb the ROW and local government permit costs for the project.
Ang is very bullish about the Bulacan airport project, calling it a “game-changer.”
He said the airport could bring in 20 million to 30 million foreign tourists a year.
The P735 billion proposal, dubbed as the New Manila International Airport project, was granted approval by the National Economic and Development Authority chaired by President Duterte last April.
The project involves the construction of a world-class, major international gateway with four to six parallel runways, modern terminals, a sea port, an industrial zone, and necessary infrastructure such as expressways.
The agreed concession period is 50 years.
The development of the project is part of the DOTr’s multi-airport strategy seen to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila which serves as the country’s main international gateway.