An unusual taipan

I frequently get asked whether Ramon S. Ang is running for president in 2022. I have asked him the same question and the answer is a big fat NO!

So, why is he so visible and so gung-ho about investing big money on infrastructure projects at a time when other taipans and captains of business and industry are cocooning away from public view?

Why indeed?

For a while I thought he would reconsider his Bulacan airport project. It would be understandable if he did, given how badly the aviation industry had been hit by COVID travel restrictions. Cebu Pacific mothballed over a dozen of their planes in Australia, including seven brand new A321s. Even NAIA has excess capacity these days.

But when I texted him, he said nothing has changed. He intends to break ground this year and  preparatory work on the land had started.

Still, I wonder about the banks that had committed to fund the airport project before COVID. Will they review their numbers, specially the significantly reduced size of the potential market post-COVID?

I texted RSA again about the timetable for the completion of Skyway Stage 3 that connects the South with the North Expressways. Yes, he said, he hopes to complete construction by December this year.

He once told me about his plan to put up a BRT that will run on that Skyway from Balintawak to Susana Heights. I texted him again to ask if that is still pushing through.

Yes, he said, and they are now in the process of seeking clearances from national and local government agencies. He is excited about that one too.

Indeed, after they finally inaugurated the final segment of TPLEX some weeks ago, RSA is focusing on building two more expressways.

San Miguel is allocating P121.8 billion in the next four years to build the 420-kilometer South Luzon Expressway Tollroad 5 (SLEX-TR5) and the 19.40-km. Pasig River Expressway (PAREX).

“As we said before, San Miguel is fully committed to helping our country overcome this crisis. A big part of that is to continue and not hold back on new investments. These projects will deliver hundreds of thousands of jobs and put money in the hands of the Filipinos—sustaining and boosting our economic recovery, even as we build for a much better future,” RSA said in a press statement.

“SLEX TR5 will take four years to complete, and PAREX, three years. By that time, the pandemic would have been far behind us… Our Bulacan airport project would also be complete. So, imagine: within five years, the Philippines will be transformed and be better than ever,” he said.

The Toll Regulatory Board recently designated SMC’s proposed SLEX TR5 and PAREX as certified toll road projects.

SLEX TR5 is a 420-kilometer, four lane expressway starting from SLEX TR4 in Brgy. Mayao, Lucena City, Quezon up to the Matnog Ferry Terminal in Sorsogon.

PAREX, on the other hand, is six-lane, elevated expressway traversing the entirety of the Pasig River starting from Radial Road 10 (R10) in Manila up to the South East Metro Manila Expressway (SEMME) at Circumferential Road 6 (C-6). It will be under a 30-year Build-Operate-Transfer scheme.

Targeted for completion in 36 months, PAREX will provide faster east to west access to the business districts, Makati, Ortigas and BGC.

I texted him once more to ask the question bugging many people about PAREX… will the expressway be built over Pasig River so as to cover it completely? No, he said. They will build the expressway along the river easement which is supposed to be public domain.

Additionally, RSA texted back, they will remove garbage along the Pasig River estimated at 300,000 tons. They will accomplish what several administrations failed to do… clean up the river.

Lest SMC’s shareholders wonder if RSA is putting too much of their money in projects the government should undertake, he said they are also doing a lot of things to boost San Miguel’s ability to compete in the new environment.

These include: making supply chains more resilient, updating operating and selling models, keeping its cost base appropriate and manageable; increasing efficiencies and rationalizing spending, and protecting its cash flows and pro-actively managing its working capital.

But San Miguel is hurting, just like other corporations. Its Petron subsidiary, the country’s largest oil refiner and marketer, had a loss of P14.2 billion in the first six months of the year as against the P2.6 billion net income it booked in the same period last year.

Unlike the smaller oil players that buy from the spot market for petroleum products, Petron refines crude oil. Petron effectively provides the country with a strategic buffer supply, but doing that makes them more vulnerable to a slump in demand, poor refining margins, and collapse in prices.

San Miguel Foods was also hit by volatile input costs and supply glut in poultry which pushed down poultry prices to unprecedented lows along with the African Swine Fever, which also adversely affected hog and feed volumes.

San Miguel’s power business posted volume growth, but was offset by weaker prices amid increasing competition. But the food and beverage, and the packaging business grew their revenues.

I guess RSA takes a strategic long-term view. We will not always be mired in this economic downturn. When the economy turns around, they will be ready.

Is RSA running for president? I don’t think he is that crazy.

But yes, RSA would probably make a better president than any of the politicians salivating for the position. He has foresight, knows how to manage projects and seems to understand what Filipinos need to have better lives. Best of all, he is an engineer, not a lawyer… a doer and not a talker.

RSA’s view of money is so different from ordinary taipans and politicians, and that’s difficult to explain. In a word, he isn’t greedy.

Money for him must serve a social purpose. He sees hungry people in Tondo, he feeds them not once or twice, but daily. He thinks he is DSWD, DPWH, DOTr rolled up into one.

He is a very unusual taipan.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco