RSA, airport king

VIRTUAL REALITY

- TONY LOPEZ

Over the next three to 25 Oyears, San Miguel Corporation chair and CEO Ramon S. Ang (aka RSA) has committed to spend, without cost to the government, a whopping P1.743 trillion to modernize and manage three of the country's largest airports - P1 trillion in fees for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City; P735 billion in capex for the New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan and P8 billion in capex for the Boracay Airport.

Easily, with its P1.743-trillion spending, San Miguel is the country's biggest investor. SMC will also be the biggest employer.

The airports will create two million jobs, double the present job generation. The unprecedented investments by a single company will transform the Philippine economy dramatically, accelerating growth from the present 6 percent per year, to easily eight or even nine percent per year.

The P1 trillion (P911 billion without inflation) are payments and fees to the government for the right to modernize, manage and operate NAIA, for 15 years in the first phase, and an additional ten years after that, if SMC does good in its 2024-2039 initial concession period. The new NAIA will service 62 million passen-gers a year, more than double NAIA's current design for 29.5 million passengers.

Additionally, RSA has committed to spend, without cost to the government, P735 billion to build and manage the Bulacan Airport or the New Manila International Airport, ten minutes north of Manila in Bulakan town, to service 100 million passengers a year.