“What the country needs now is less politics and more progress”
IN A time when skepticism clouds every major government project, it is refreshing — and frankly reassuring — to see a Filipino company like San Miguel Corporation walk the talk in nation-building.
The ₱1.5-trillion NAIA rehabilitation contract awarded to New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation, led by SMC President /CEO Ramon S. Ang, is once again under attack — this time by a group alleging corruption and favoritism.
But let us look beyond the noise and the headlines. What are the facts?
Record-Breaking Returns to Government
SMC’s NAIA concession isn’t just another private contract — it is a public-private partnership that delivers immediate, measurable benefit to the Filipino people.
As part of the agreement, SMC has paid the government an upfront payment of P30 billion. In just one year, SMC remitted ₱35 billion to the government — an unprecedented amount that dwarfs previous airport revenues and represents a direct windfall for the national treasury.
That figure alone shows how the project is structured to favor the public.
Under the terms of the agreement, the government retains ownership of NAIA, while the private partner shoulders modernization, operational improvement, and passenger service upgrades — without costing taxpayers a centavo.
If this is “favoring private interests,” then we need more of such “favoritism” that puts billions back into government coffers and upgrades our infrastructure to world-class standards.
From Gridlock to Gateway
Anyone who travels through NAIA knows the frustration of congestion, delays, and outdated facilities.
The airport — once Asia’s premier hub — has long lagged behind regional counterparts like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.
RSA’s vision for a “New NAIA” is not about cosmetic change. It’s about structural transformation: expanding capacity to handle over 60 million passengers annually, upgrading air traffic management systems, modernizing terminals, and improving passenger experience through better facilities and faster processing times.
These are not promises on paper. SMC has a proven track record — from the Skyway and TPLEX to the South Rail freight line and the ongoing New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan.
In every project, SMC has delivered ahead of schedule, creating jobs, stimulating local economies, and addressing decades-old bottlenecks in transportation.
Transparency and Track Record
Critics allege corruption and sweetheart deals. But they conveniently ignore that the Asian Development Bank — not the DOTr or SMC — served as the independent transaction advisor for the NAIA bidding process, ensuring transparency and global standards.
Furthermore, SMC’s winning proposal offered the highest government share among all bidders — reportedly more than 80 percent, ensuring the lion’s share of profits goes to the Filipino public.
To claim corruption in such a process is to undermine the institutions and mechanisms put in place precisely to prevent it.
Nation-Building, Not Grandstanding
What the country needs now is less politics and more progress.
The NAIA rehabilitation is not a vanity project — it is a national necessity.
Every minute of delay in modernization means lost opportunities, wasted fuel, and frustrated travelers.
RSA’s leadership has always been about quiet results over loud rhetoric.
His companies build, create, and contribute — even when critics shout from the sidelines. The ₱35-billion remittance is proof not of excess, but of efficiency, integrity, and patriotism in action.
In the end, what matters most is not who shouts the loudest but who delivers the most. Ramon S. Ang and SMC have once again shown that Filipino enterprise, guided by purpose and partnership, can rise above cynicism — turning airports, roads, and rivers into real symbols of hope and progress.
That, more than anything, is the kind of infrastructure legacy our nation deserves.
(The writer, president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection, is the official biographer of President Fidel V. Ramos.)
