THE Senate on Monday approved on final reading legislation granting a 50-year franchise to San Miguel Aerocity Incorporated, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, to put up a domestic and international airport in Bulacan.
Embodied in House Bill 7507, the San Miguel Aerocity got the green light from senators to operate a new major airport with complete facilities, over objections from some fiscal watchdogs who frowned on the “generous” incentives embedded in the franchise. It has been billed as literally a sprawling new mini-city.
The enabling legislation required San Miguel Aerocity authorities to ensure it will be run in the “safest and best way” for the convenience of travelers arriving and departing from the Bulacan airport, which proponents had said would decongest Manila’s crowded airports while spurring development in Central Luzon.
The legislation provides that for the first 10 years while the airport is being built, the aerocity company will be exempted from paying direct and indirect taxes. Moreover, for the next 40 years it will be exempted from income and real-estate taxes until San Miguel Aerocity recoups its investment.
After 50 years, the San Miguel Airport will be turned over to the government.
Estimates pegged at P740 billion the investment needed to put up the new 2,500-hectare airport facility in Bulakan, Bulacan.
According to Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services that sponsored the San Miguel Airport’s franchise application, its construction alone is expected to create 450,000 jobs.
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