The National Economic and Development Authority Board approved the unsolicited proposal April 26, 2018 and negotiation report on the Concession Agreement on December 21, 2018. Under the approved terms, the concession agreement includes a no government guarantee or any form of subsidy from the state. The project will have a final review of the Office of the Solicitor-General and the Department of Finance before it will undergo a Swiss challenge where other prospective companies will compete against the San Miguel Corporation proposal. As the original project proponent, SMC has the right to match any bid by its competitors. The Department of Transportation, the implementing agency for the project, eyes to finish Swiss challenge for Bulacan airport project by the first quarter of 2019. On July 31, 2019, the Swiss challenge period ended, with no rival bids. With this, SMC was expected to be awarded the project. On August 13, 2019, SMC tapped 3 international firms, Groupe ADP Ingénierie, Meinhardt Group and Jacobs Engineering Group to build and design the airport. On September 18, 2019, San Miguel Corporation, through its unit, San Miguel Aerocity Inc. was awarded a deal to oversee, then hand over the project by the Department of Transportation after both firms signed a concession agreement for the building of the new airport at the ASEAN Convention Center in Clark Freeport Zone. The airport will be fully owned by the Philippine government under a build-operate-transfer program. DOTr allowed the SMC unit to build, maintain, and operate the airport without funding from the government for a set period of time. Its groundbreaking was supposed to begin in December. And its construction will begin in October 2020.
Airport facilities
The proposed airport will feature at least four runways, expandable to six. It will have a capacity of 100 million passengers per year when fully built, which is about three times larger than the current capacity of NAIA. It will also be connected to Metro Manila by an airport toll road with connections to the North Luzon Expressway and Radial Road 10, and a railway.
Issues
The proposed international airport has been criticized for its potential negative impact on the ecological and socio-economic environments of the region. Fishermen's group Pambasang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya Pilipinas raised concerns that the "Bulacan Aerotropolis," a reclamation land where the proposed airport project will be situated, might intensify flooding in Bulakan and the municipalities in its vicinity in western Bulacan and northern Metro Manila. Environmental archeologist Vito Hernandez of the environmental science advocacy group Agham remarked the importance of mangrove forest in the area in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and thus lowering its concentration from the atmosphere, and the forest's significance as the natural habitat of fish in which the fishermen in the area depend on for their livelihood. Agham also reported that at least 670 kilograms worth of fish and other local marine products will be affected for each hectare of mangrove forests that will be destroyed. The group, therefore, advocated that the Environmental Clearance Certificate issued by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources be revoked. The environmental issues remain unaddressed although SMC has clarified that some of their activities, such as the dredging of the Tullahan River in Metro Manila, may alleviate flooding issues. Pamalakaya – Bulacan spokesperson Rodel Alvarez took note of the lack of relocation plan for the residents and fishermen who would be potentially affected by the project; this claim was contradicted by SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang, who stated the conglomerate "will provide free houses and lots plus powerboats for their livelihoods." On October 8, 2019, Pamalakaya national chairman and former Anakpawis representative Fernando Hicap requested that House SpeakerAlan Peter Cayetano conduct a congressional inquiry on the airport project and its potential adverse impacts. The scheduled groundbreaking in December 2019 faced a delay, which according to DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade was due to an issue over the "wording and interpretation" of the concession agreement with the SMC. The issue covered conditions on "material adverse government action," which is concerned with the compensation to the concessionaire in the event the project is adversely affected by the actions of the national government, and on "caps on liabilities of the government." Nevertheless, DOTr stated these delays were temporary and the project would still go on after reviews conducted by the Department of Justice.
