MANILA, Philippines — The construction of the Bulacan Airport of New Manila International Airport led by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will “definitely” start this year, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) gave assurance on Wednesday.
DOTr Assistant Secretary Giovanni Lopez said Secretary Arthur Tugade decided to postpone the groundbreaking activity in deference to SMC President Ramon Ang, who was then dealing with a personal family matter.
The groundbreaking was supposed to take place in December 2019 or January 2020 but was delayed to “exercise human compassion and decency” towards Ang.
“We were supposed to break ground on the Bulacan airport either the month of December or January of this year. Pero po alam naman po natin kung anong nangyari ngayon, meron pong pinagdadaanang mabigat ang Presidente ng SMC,” he said in a press briefing.
“Yung proyektong yun po matatapos pagkatapos ng anim na taon. Pero definitely, the construction will start this year (The project will be finished in six years. But definitely, the construction will start this year),” Lopez said.
(We were supposed to break ground on the Bulacan airport either the month of December or January of this year. But we know what happened that the President of SMC is going through something.)
Ang, in January, reportedly appealed against the spread of false reports about the condition of his son Jomar who was hospitalized.
The New Manila International Airport, first proposed in 2016, is expected to cover 2,400 hectares in Bulacan and aims to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).