San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is “eager” to work with the government to “perfect” the bill that will create a special economic zone and freeport in the future airport city in Bulacan.
The conglomerate said such a piece of legislation could result in $200 billion in export revenues per year.
SMC President Ramon S. Ang said the group respects and abides by the decision of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to veto the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Bill.
Marcos thumbed down the bill citing issues on taxation, fiscal risks, as well as overlapping government mandates.
“We respect and abide by the government’s decision. We thank him for recognizing where the proposed Freeport bill can be further improved, and we look forward to working with his administration towards perfecting this. We are eager to continue working with government, and play an active role in helping our country reach its goals—as we have faithfully and consistently done,” said Ang.
SMC is financing the construction of the P740-billion New Manila International Airport (NMIA), also called the Bulacan Airport.
Ang said “if all the issues raised in the President’s veto could be addressed, and recognizing that the primary intent of the ecozone is for the benefit the country and Filipinos, its full potential could still be realized.”
He noted that if approved, the ecozone will be managed by the government, meaning tax incentives will all pass through the Department of Finance’s Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) review and approval process, to ensure these are aligned with the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.
“Among our plans for the ecozone is to help create science and technology export hubs with the cheapest logistics cost, because these will be close to the airport and seaport,” Ang said.
“We are looking to attract world-class semiconductor manufacturers, battery power storage system manufacturers, electric vehicle makers, and even modular nuclear power assemblies and other new and emerging tech industries. We estimate these industries alone will add some $200 billion in annual exports—a big boost to our GDP,” Ang said.
He said any “loss” from the granting of incentives to investors will be dwarfed by the “long-term benefits to the country of the ecozone,” including “hundreds of thousands of new jobs to be generated, which will benefit the next and future generations of young Filipino graduates, professionals, and skilled workers.”
Ang also highlighted the benefit of “transfer of knowledge and technology from foreign investors and locators.”
“Incentives are a way for government to attract much-needed investments into our country, especially now that we are all pulling together to help our economy not just recover, but continuously grow in the post-pandemic era. This way, our future generations will have enough and better opportunities than we have.”
Ang also addressed the issue of the NMIA being close to the Clark Airport, which was mentioned in the veto and was initially raised by the DOF under the previous administration, which said NMIA would “compete” with Clark International Airport.
He said that apart from the considerable distance between the two airports—Clark is approximately some 100 kilometers from Metro Manila—large and progressive cities all over the world employ a multiple airport strategy, such as Tokyo and New York, among others.
The businessman noted that in the next three decades, the need for the NMIA will be magnified, given the current limitations of the existing gateways, as well as the projected growth of the population in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces.
“What we don’t want is to repeat the mistakes of the past where we were not quick enough to develop new infrastructure, giving rise to overcapacity and congestion on our aging roads, ports, and other facilities, and even in our skies. Temporary fixes will not do anymore. We are building for the future, with a clear vision of a fully-developed and progressive, prosperous Philippines.”
Ang said that regardless of the outcome of any further government review or action on the ecozone, SMC remains fully committed to continuing on its path of growth through nation-building, and building the NMIA—seen as the solution to decades of air traffic and land congestion that have severely limited the country’s growth.