San Miguel Corp. is no longer pursing its own proposal to build the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) that would have connected Radial Road 10 in Manila to Circumferential Road 6 19.37 kilometers away southeast of Metro Manila.
SMC president and chief executive officer Ramon S. Ang, RSA to those who know and respect his business acumen, proposed the six-lane, all-elevated expressway traversing the Pasig River that would have used a 2.7-kilometer portion of Skyway Stage 3 from Nagtahan to Plaza Azul but decided to drop the project altogether amid objections raised by some environmental and conservation advocates.
“I proposed the Pasig River Expressway but many people don’t want it. I no longer (pursue it) because we are also very sensitive. We listen to the pulse of the people. We are very sensitive to public opinion. If the public thinks it is not for public welfare, we will not do it,” Ang said.
The company had said it invested P2 billion cleaning up the Pasig River, merge it with a bus rapid transit system, bicycle lanes and with pedestrian walkways.
San Miguel Corp. would later in August last year sign a P72 billion deal with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. to construct two expressways south of Metro Manila.
Under the agreement, SMC and MPTC jointly undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of the 87.96-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway.
The MPTC Group operates 240.6 kilometers of expressways with 43.1 kilometers still under construction for a total investment of $3.06 billion.
It operates 105 kilometers of North Luzon Expressway, 94 km. of Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway and 14 km. of Manila-Cavite Expressway. It also operates the 8.5-km. Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.
SMC’s expressways include the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), the Skyway System and the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).
