The proposed Pasig River Expressway, another project of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., was brought into question after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected the measure giving ecozone designation for the new Bulacan airport.

Following Marcos’ veto of House Bill No. 7575, which would have established a special economic zone surrounding the proposed airport in Bulacan due to what he claimed were financial dangers and overlaps in the missions of several government institutions, the action was applauded by environmental organizations.

According to commuter advocacy group The Passenger Forum, the government should revitalize the Pasig River to make the most of it for public transportation in light of the commuter crisis and the metro’s skyrocketing fuel prices rather than the PAREX, which “is peppered with a lot of issues and controversies.”

TPF Convener Primo Morillo said, “It is not commuter-friendly because it prioritizes private cars and contrary to the claims of Ramon Ang, the project’s technical details do not mention anything about a bus rapid transit system, bike lanes, or any features for pedestrians. It is not environment-friendly as it will be detrimental to the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. It also endangers multiple heritage sites and historical buildings in Manila, especially inside Intramuros. Even their Environment Impact Assessment report has been suspected to be plagiarized,” 

He explained, “The Pasig River traverses various densely-populated and busy areas of Metro Manila and it is an existing resource that we can maximize for public transportation especially now that we are in a transport crisis. We think that providing additional water buses and ensuring better passenger experience in the Pasig River Ferry Service will offer an alternative form of transportation for a lot of commuters,” 

According to transportation and environmental groups opposed to the project, the 19-kilometer elevated expressway will have negative effects on the economy, the environment, human health, and cultural heritage that will ultimately outweigh any positive effects. They claim it will also exacerbate traffic congestion in Metro Manila rather than alleviate it.

Regarding the airport in Bulacan, TPF recommended that it would be preferable to upgrade Ninoy Aquino International Airport and enlarge Clark Airport in Pampanga.

Because it achieved the lowest overall score in a recent research, the NAIA was formerly referred to as the “worst business class airport in the world.”

“We know that what was vetoed is just the economic zone status of the airport city but we maintain that the San Miguel Aerocity is not necessary at this point,” Morillo said.

“We should rehabilitate NAIA instead and then expand Clark airport. If we need another airport near Metro Manila, it is better to place it in a province south of NCR as Clark is already located north of Manila.”

The Pasig River Ferry Convergence Program was suggested by the UniTeam of Marcos, who also promised to support the renovation of the ferry transit infrastructure.

On January 13, they stated in a statement that the team,  “plans to construct new and disaster-resilient ferry stations, improve on existing ones, and launch safe, sleek and state-of-the-art ferries to encourage commuters in patronizing them.”