SMC to invest P50 billion for Pandacan bus, food terminal

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp., the country’s diversified conglomerate, may pour in roughly P50 billion for a plan to convert the 50-hectare Pandacan oil depot into a bus and food terminal.

The proposed project is expected to help ease traffic in Metro Manila.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said the company plans to redevelop the Pandacan depot and make the property more useful for commuters.

“This project can really help the government and the people. It would help decongest Metro Manila,” SMC president and COO Ramon Ang said on the sidelines of the opening of Better World Tondo learning and food center.

The facility will serve as a bus terminal for different bus operators plying in and out of Metro Manila. There will also be a food terminal that will accommodate the food companies displaced when a portion of the Marcos-era Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig was shut down to give way to redevelopment.

The unsolicited proposal has already been submitted to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

“Secretary Tugade is now evaluating the proposal,” Ang said.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso also welcomed the proposed project, saying it would help spur the city’s economy.

The proposed development would be directly connected to SMC’s Skyway expansion project, allowing vehicles and trucks to bypass the already congested EDSA.

Aside from buses, smaller public utility vehicles (PUVs), like UV Express can transport passengers to other points in Metro Manila.

Those coming from the provinces such as in the north or in the south can use the Skyway and head to Pandacan.

The proposed redevelopment would require property redevelopment, including the terminal, on-ramp and off-ramp to Skyway, roads and other components.

The Pandacan oil depot served as a depot for the storage facilities and distribution terminals of the big oil companies such as SMC’s Petron Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

SMC, through Petron, owns around 25 hectares of the Pandacan oil depot and the rest are owned by Shell and Caltex.

Ang said SMC could partner with the other oil players for the redevelopment of the terminal.