The Department of Transportation said Tuesday San Miguel Holdings Corp., the infrastructure arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., submitted a revised contract for the P735-billion New Manila International Airport project in Bulacan province.
“San Miguel submitted the revised concession agreement [on Monday]. It’s now under review. As soon we are able to agree on the terms and conditions of the concession agreement, the same document will be submitted to Neda ICC [National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee],” Transportation Undersecretary Ruben Reinoso told reporters.
“Simultaneously, we are now preparing for the Swiss Challenge, which means we are drafting the terms and reference and minimum performance standards and specifications, the bid parameters and the risk allocations matrix which will form part of the tender documents for the Swiss Challenge and we hope to complete it before the end of the year,” he said.
Reinoso said the government aimed to grant final approval and award the contract by end of 2018 or early next year.
The project, which was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte in April, involves the construction of a world-class, major international gateway with four to six parallel runways, modern terminals, a seaport and an industrial zone.
San Miguel proposed to build the massive airport complex on a 2,500-hectare property in Bulakan, Bulacan”•just 27 kilometers away from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, or 45 minutes from any point in Metro Manila via multiple expressways.
The project, estimated at $5 billion or P735 billion, will be undertaken over a period of five to seven years to full completion.
San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang earlier said his company had the financial capacity and track record to build the Bulacan airport.
“We believe our years of experience in building and operating major infrastructure projects are a key advantage when it comes to executing on this vital, ambitious project,” Ang said.
“SMC has already undertaken a lot of major projects and have delivered on a number of them so the expertise, know-how and innovativeness are there. We also work with the best experts and contractors, so when the time comes to start construction on the airport, we expect to hit the ground running,” he said.
SMHC manages the country’s largest infrastructure network. Among the major projects SMC built and made operational are Naia Expressway, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, and Boracay Airport runway extension project.
Ongoing projects include the MRT-7 project, Skyway Stage 3, South East Metro Manila Expressway and SLEx-TR 4 projects. It also operates the Skyway system, the South Luzon Expressway and the Star Tollway.
