The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The operation of the world-class Bulacan airport has been pushed to 2028 due to the construction delays.
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang admitted that the delays are mostly caused by a lack of “panambak” or backfill.
“We are working closely with the government to help us, to allow and give us some panambak. The construction has been delayed because we do not have it. If we can get that, then we can begin construction and make the airport ready to run,” Ang told reporters.
SMC expects to start development work for its P740-billion Bulacan International Airport or the new Manila International Airport (NMIA) project next year.
“When they suspended the Manila Bay reclamation, they also stopped sand sources, which affected us. We do not have backfill, which we use for construction,” he explained.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered the suspension of all reclamation projects in Manila Bay in 2023 pending a review of their environmental effects.
Ang said that initially, SMC has targeted to begin the operation of NMIA by 2027.
He admitted the delay also incurred them additional costs noting that a one-year delay cost them several hundreds of millions of dollars.
“If we can get the sand right now, we can begin the construction and make the airport ready to run by the first quarter of 2028,” he noted.
SMC is developing a 2,500-hectare property in Bulacan province into an aerotropolis featuring a world-class gateway that can handle 100 million passengers a year.