MANDALUYONG CITY — The New Manila International Airport in Bulacan is neither a reclamation project nor the cause of widespread flooding in the province.
Thus, declared Ramon Ang, president and CEO of Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., during a media briefing held on Sept. 1 at the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) headquarters here.
Ang said the airport, which is being built in Barangay Taliptip, Bulakan, Bulacan, is located along the shoreline on land that was previously used as a fishing area.
“It is not a reclamation project,” Ang stressed, explaining that the airport is being developed within the existing shoreline area.
He also dismissed claims that the airport was responsible for flooding in upland areas of Bulacan. According to Ang, the airport is not connected to the Angat River system, which is regulated by the Angat, Ipo and Bustos dams.
He added that the airport is also not connected to the Pantabangan Dam and would therefore not cause flooding in Pampanga.
Despite this, Ang said SMC has been helping clean and dredge rivers in Bulacan as part of efforts to reduce flooding in the province.
Together with Jimmy Lu, vice president and project manager of SMC Better Rivers PH, Ang presented a report on the company’s river-dredging operations.
The report showed that SMC has cleared a total of 95.39 kilometers of waterways in the Bulacan towns and cities of Bulakan, Bocaue, Guiguinto, Balagtas, Malolos, Obando, Meycauayan, Marilao, and Angat.
The company said it had removed more than 4.3 million tons of silt and other obstructions from the waterways.
Ang said SMC’s dredging efforts were intended to help reduce flooding, but acknowledged that several sections of the rivers still need to be cleared.
He noted that some areas are difficult to dredge because of low bridges and narrow river sections. In such cases, SMC must seek permission from the government before proceeding, he said, adding that some requests have yet to be approved.
