NO MORE new airports for Ramon S. Ang.
The business tycoon and president of food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. told the BusinessMirror in Filipino, “No. I won’t pursue any more airport projects. I just want to concentrate on the Bulacan airport so we can finish it quickly.”
San Miguel’s $15-billion international airport in Bulacan was recently given the go-ahead by the government, and is projected to be completed by 2025 once it starts construction this year. Previous published reports quoted Ang as saying he was also interested in constructing, upgrading, or operating/maintaining provincial airports, such as those in Bacolod, Davao, Iloilo, Laguindingan, and Bohol.
This is not San Miguel’s first airport project. The conglomerate started renovating the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay Island in 2010, by expanding the runway, upgrading airport facilities and air-traffic control equipment, installing night navigational equipment, and expanding the terminal and modernized its existing terminal.
“Yes, I will further improve [the Caticlan airport]. But it’s necessary to have that bridge [between Caticlan and Boracay Island]. Without the bridge, the airport will be useless. Boracay will be destroyed; no one will go there,” Ang underscored.
Managed by San Miguel subsidiary, Trans Aire Development Holdings Corp., the Caticlan airport is currently being expanded, with the addition of a new passenger terminal and 12 air bridges. Once completed, the expansion will be able to accommodate some 6 million passengers a year.
San Miguel’s proposed P5.5 billion bridge to connect the mainland of Aklan to Boracay Island is currently awaiting original proponent status from the Department of Public Works and Highways. The next step is for DPWH to endorse the project to the National Economic and Development Authority for endorsement to its Investment Coordinating Committee, composed of representatives of government’s regular line agencies.
Ang made a personal pitch for the 1.2-kilometer bridge project to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat at an event on Friday to launch the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) partnership with Petron Corp.
“Government is admirable in what it accomplished in Boracay,” said the tough-talking business executive. “The beach has improved, but I noticed, when it rained hard, flooding and other problems reoccurred.”
“The solution to that,” he continued, “is a bridge that will connect Boracay and Caticlan. Some 25,000 workers living on Boracay can live on the mainland [if the bridge is constructed]. And 300 tons of solid waste can move to the mainland to the landfill, and you no longer need to construct a deep well in Boracay. You can just bring fresh water from to mainland,” he said.
Romulo Puyat declined to comment, however, on San Miguel’s bridge project.
Ang chairs Petron Corp., which signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the DOT for the BEST (Barrier-Free and Environmentally Sustainable Toilet) project, aimed at ensuring the quality of restrooms near tourist destinations in line with Asean Public Toilet Standard.
Under the partnership, some 200 Petron stations will undergo an accreditation process, where each station will be assessed on the basis of design and environmental management system, amenities and facilities, cleanliness, and safety. Accredited stations will be marked with the DOT Seal of Approval.
In her message to guests and tourism stakeholders present, Romulo Puyat said: “Traveling by land, especially hitting the road for the long-term drive, literally epitomizes the very essence of tourism. And, it is in this travel experience, where local and international tourists must readily find the convenience and comfort of using facilities on the road—that iconic movie scene of stopping at the filling station and going for a bathroom run.”
She added, “As part of our commitment to providing the Filipino brand of service, it is the goal of this DOT-Petron joint project to make available public restrooms that meet international standards at Petron gas stations nationwide, ensuring quality, comfort, safety and proper waste management of public toilets on the way to our tourist destinations.”
For his part, Ang told reporters after the MOU signing, the water used in the toilet passes through a water treatment plant. “Then we recycle it for reuse for the flushing of the toilet. So we are able to repeatedly reuse it. That’s why we call it environment-friendly, and we don’t throw it away.”
He noted the increasing number of tourists in the country and the rising number of cars on the road. “We are adding 1 million cars a year, so we are adding more and more toilets everywhere. In fact, including in the city, we are forced to add more toilets because of the traffic,” he added.
DOT officials explained that the toilets are called “barrier-free” as these facilities are also friendly to persons with disability and senior citizens since these have nonslip flooring, with proper horizontal and vertical grab bars, and doors wide enough for wheel-chaired individuals.