2 groups urge Bongbong Marcos to cancel Bulacan airport project

 

MANILA, Philippines — The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas’ (Pamalakaya) and Anakpawis party-list group on Sunday urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to repeal San Miguel Corporation’s  airport project in Bulacan.

Marcos Jr. earlier vetoed a bill on the creation of a special economic zone and freeport  in the airport project in Bulakan,Bulacan due to “substantial fiscal risks to the country.”

“This will be laudable only if the San Miguel Aerotropolis project will be completely off from any negotiations. And until the displaced fisherfolks and coastal residents are able to return to their community which has been the target of the project,” Pamalakaya national chairperson for Luzon Bobby Roldan said in a statement.

Roldan noted that the project itself has been enacted into law through Republic Act 11506 or An Act Granting San Miguel Aerocity Inc. a Franchise to Construct, Develop, Establish, Operate and Maintain a Domestic and International Airport in the Municipality of Bulakan, Province of Bulacan, and to Construct, Develop, Establish, Operate, and Maintain an Adjacent Airport City.

“The new administration must know that it is the entire Aerotropolis project, not only its components, that should be totally repealed on environmental, social and economic grounds,” Roldan said.

“Moreover, Marcos Jr. can only prove his concern to the environment and our livelihood if he will completely scrap all the destructive reclamation projects across the archipelago, mostly in Manila Bay with almost 50 reclamation projects,” he added.

Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap, meanwhile, challenged Marcos Jr. to prove that he is not an ally of oligarchs, but of poor fisherfolk.

Meanwhile, Anakpawis party-list national president Ariel Casilao pointed out that even foreign entities disagreed with the construction of the airport.

“Kung gusto ni Marcos Jr., matuwa sa kanya ang mga mangingisda, environmentalist at mga residente ng Bulacan, ay tuluyan niyang ikansela ang project na iyan,” said Casilao.

(If Marcos Jr. wants fishermen, environmentalists, and Bulacan residents to be glad, he should cancel the project.)

Under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, San Miguel Corp.’s Bulacan airport city was given a 50-year franchise to build and operate the facility in exchange for tax breaks and a revenue sharing scheme.

It would rise on a 2,500 hectare property and is eyed to serve up to 100 million passengers yearly.

Fishermen in the area, however, opposed the project, which they said would affect their means of livelihood.

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