Page 90 - Forbes - Asia (September 2018)

The Philippines’ 50 Richest

BY AURORA ALMENDRAL

Airports

& Asphalt

n the midst of fast growth and an improving investment climate,
the Philippines is long overdue for a nationwide infrastructure
Ioverhaul—one which President Rodrigo Duterte hopes will
become part of his legacy. EXPRESSWAY, MANILA
Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” campaign consists of 75 major Jaime Zobel de Ayala’s AC Infrastructure is investing in trai c
mitigation, one of Manila’s most intractable problems.
public infrastructure projects, from roads to oodways, transporta-
tion, drinking water, energy and airports. Filipino tycoons are keen
to get a piece of the promised $180 billion public investment and are
launching privately funded projects in what many are hoping is the
dawn of a golden age of Philippine infrastructure.
Little ground has been broken so far in Duterte’s push as his

economic team works to i nd inancial footing. he government is
moving away from the public-private partnership model favored by
previous administrations, ater chronic underspending in infra-

structure resulted from bottlenecks in negotiations or approval
processes, and shy bids for the projects from corporations. Duterte
has turned to loans and development assistance, most notably from
China and a recently passed tax hike.
However, the much-vaunted Chinese cash has been slow to
materialize, and critics are concerned about what strings may be at-
tached. he excise taxes and value-added taxes, which the Philippine

inance department estimated would add $1.8 billion in revenues in

its irst year, are already controversial for driving up prices.
But private operators are moving ahead regardless. Some of the
Philippines’ biggest names highlight the action. NINOY AQUINO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
San Miguel’s Ramon S. Ang, who diversiied the food and Some of the Philippines’ richest have teamed up to propose a $6.7 billion plan

to modernize Manila’s International Airport. The consortium is made up of
beverage company into a large infrastructure developer, says, “h e
companies run by Erramon Aboitiz, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Lucio Tan, John
Philippines today is among the world’s fastest growing economies. Gokongwei, Andrew Tan and Mercedes Gotianun.
But unless we are able to build
the needed infrastructure, we will
not be able to sustain long-term
growth.” Ninoy Aquino International Airport, hobbling along at overcapac-
Along with major road proj- ity, Ang’s proposal may be his most ambitious yet. A $13.8 billion
ects—holdovers from the previous Manila Bay Airport, 27 kilometers north of the capital, would have
administration—San Miguel has four runways and an initial capacity of 100 million passengers per

proposed a new airport north of year. he project, which San Miguel plans to fully fund, received
Manila. Meant to relieve conges- approval from the Philippine economic board, chaired by Duterte,

Ramon S. Ang tion from the capital’s beleaguered this April. It is now being prepared for the Swiss challenge process,
ZI/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS ; ANG: NOEL CELIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; AYALA: EDWIN TUYAY/BLOOMBERG NEWS; ABOITIZ: CARLO GABUCO/BLOOMBERG
TED ALJIBE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; CEMENT: HISTORIC IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; LIGHT RAIL: DUY PHUONG NGUYEN / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; WATER FACILITY: ANNAVAC-
TRAFFIC: NOEL CELIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; POWER PLANT: SERGEI MALGAVKO/TASS VIA GETTY IMAGES; LIGHT RAIL: DUY PHUONG NGUYEN / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; AIRPORT:
88 | FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2018