San Miguel eyes partnership for Caticlan resort project

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) may seek a partner to develop a leisure resort near the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Caticlan, the company’s president said.

“Leisure resort development is not our expertise; I think we will find a partner to develop the land there,” SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said at a forum on Monday.

The development of the leisure resort is part of the company’s plan to cater to the growing tourism in the area as it is also in charge of the modernization of the airport in Caticlan.

SMC, through its infrastructure unit, oversees the modernization of Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, also known as the Boracay airport.

The company said it also handles the long-term development and construction of an international airport passenger terminal and the extension of the existing runway to cater to bigger aircraft.

Further, Mr. Ang said the company is hoping to award the contract for the construction of the new passenger terminal at the airport this year.

“The next step for us is to build a passenger terminal of seven-million capacity with eight-passenger boarding bridges. It should be finished in less than three years, this modern passenger terminal,” he said.

Mr. Ang said the current facilities at the Caticlan airport are temporary.

“The terminal right now is just temporary. The reason why it is taking too long is everything is privately owned property,” he added.

Aside from the Caticlan airport, SMC is also developing the Bulacan airport, or the P740-billion New Manila International Airport.

The company, through the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp., is also set to take over the operations and maintenance of the country’s main gateway on Sept. 14.

For now, Mr. Ang said SMC is not interested in participating in other airport developments under the public-private partnership scheme, as it intends to focus on its current projects.

“With the assigned airport to us, Caticlan, NAIA, Bulacan, I think we will focus to make sure we can deliver the timeline we promised,” Mr. Ang said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose