NEDA-ICC slated to deliberate Bulacan airport proposal in November

San Miguel Corp.'s (SMC) unsolicited proposal for a P700-billion airport in Bulacan is scheduled to be tackled by the National Economic and Development Authority - Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) this month.

In a press conference at the NEDA Headquarters in Pasig City,  Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning Jonathan Uy said the NEDA-ICC had already received the proposal for the Bulacan Airport Project.

"We have to complete [deliberations on the project] this month," Uy told reporters.

Under its proposal, SMC wants to put up an airport on a 2,500-hectare land area with a passenger capacity of 100 million passengers yearly.

To recall, NEDA submitted the project proposal to the NEDA board in October, for further approval of its ICC.

Following the ICC approval, the proposal will be subject to a swiss challenge which entails inviting other firms to make competing offers, while giving the original proponent the right to match.

Aside from the Bulacan airport, Uy said the NEDA ICC would also take a look at the East-West Rail project proposed by the East-West Rail Transit Corp., a consortium between A. Brown Company and Private Equity Investment and Development Corp.

The project involves the financing, design, construction, and maintenance of a mostly-elevated 9.4-kilometer railway line from Diliman in Quezon City to Lerma in Manila.

It will be implemented by the Philippine National Railways, and will have 11 stations with interconnecting facilities with other rail systems. —NB, GMA News