Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Transportation Department to transform the former Pandacan oil depot in Manila into a P10-billion bus and food terminal.
San Miguel president Ramon Ang said the proposal for the 25-hectare property of Petron Corp. in the former Pandacan oil depot was submitted to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. San Miguel owns Petron, the country’s biggest oil company.
“We are in discussion with him, consulting him and we have both come up with good ideas how to help the public transport to be better,” Ang said.
Ang said instead of building terminals in Bulacan or Laguna which would still force commuters to take city buses to Metro Manila, a terminal for provincial buses in Pandacan would be a more convenient solution.
“So it’s still the bus going to Manila? Why ask commuters to go down when it is not yet time for them to go down. We offered a good solution. We said if you are coming from Ilocos, the bus will go up to the Skyway Balintawak then go down to Pandacan. We call our proposal the bus and food terminal,” Ang said.
“So if you will fetch passengers from Ilocos or Bicol from there, wouldn’t it be easier to monitor? Most students come from the provinces during the weekends and if they go down there, it would be easier than letting them get off in Bulacan and ride another bus,” Ang said.
Ang said the terminal which could accommodate 5,000 buses is strategically located in Manila and would be equipped with facilities that would make it convenient to commuters.
“The UV Express are angry because they will become point to point but with this plan there won’t be a problem. The UV can wait in Pandacan…. The area is near the Skyway ramp so it’s perfect,” he said.
Ang said the terminal was also envisioned to become a food terminal as vegetables and fish and other goods could be easily transported there.
“Right now, all products are unloaded at Balintawak or Divisoria and wherever. Now, Pandacan will be the new central market,” Ang said.
He said the location to be called the Skyway Bus and Food Terminal could be expanded amid talks with other Pandacan depot landowners such as Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines.
“We will also place cold storage and wet market and restaurants. We are in talks with Shell and Caltex and they agree with the plan,” Ang said.
The oil companies ceased their oil depot operations in Pandacan in 2015 in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling directing the removal of the said oil facilities amid security concerns as it is located in a densely populated area.