Today I Learned: Why are People Opposed to the P8-Billion Boracay-Caticlan Bridge Project
San Miguel Corp (SMC) first submitted a proposal to connect Boracay Island to Panay Island via a bridge project through Caticlan, Aklan in 2016. In January this year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) invited “local and international companies to submit comparative proposals under a Comparative Bidding Process to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the [Boracay Bridge] Project under a 30-year concession period from the start of operations.”
Prospective bidders for the project have until October 18 to submit their proposals. The DPWH announced on February 20, however, that the issuance of tender documents originally scheduled that day “will be rescheduled.”
The unsolicited proposal from SMC, one of the country’s biggest conglomerates that has an infrastructure arm that develops roads and tollways in various parts of the country, involves constructing a 2.54-kilometer limited access bridge system between Boracay and Caticlan costing roughly P8 billion. The proposal includes “an access road infrastructure with facility hubs on both islands, providing commercial spaces for lease and parking areas for service and operation of public transport vehicles and cargo/delivery vehicles between Boracay Island and Caticlan, Malay.”
ALSO READ
Why are Fewer Tourists Going to Boracay?
The Science Behind the Green Algae in Boracay
But this bridge project has drawn intense opposition from various sectors, led by Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), an organization composed of owners and representatives of resorts, hotels, and restaurants; community organizations; and several environmentally conscious residents and advocates.
In a post on its Facebook page, BFI said it is against the bridge because of “potential risks the project poses to Boracay’s fragile ecosystem, the lack of transparent stakeholder consultation, and the questionable track record of the proponent in delivering critical infrastructure improvements.”
Local government representatives, including Aklan Gov. Jose Enrique “Joen” Miraflores and Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista also said they were not properly consulted about the project.
In a resolution about the project issued in October 2024, the BFI noted “the absence of thorough consultation with Boracay’s local businesses, residents, and tourism stakeholders,” and argued that the installation of the bridge must be studied more comprehensively.
However, San Miguel Holdings chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang insisted that the LGU knew as early as 2016 about the project.
“We’ve proposed the project a long time ago and we’ve briefed them a number of times—the LGU, the barangay, and everybody,” Ang said. “We’ve explained it to them many, many times.”
Ang added how much the bridge would benefit stakeholders, noting how it would make it easier to transport garbage out of the island, which will then help eliminate the unsightly seasonal algae still seen off the main white beach. “So it’s really better if that bridge will be built and we can transfer the garbage out of there daily,” Ang said. “That will make Boracay more attractive.”
But BFI issued a warning about proceeding with the construction of the bridge project without considering all of the consequences.
“Boracay, renowned for its pristine beaches and delicate marine environment, could suffer irreversible damage from large-scale construction and increased human activity,” BFI said. “Environmental groups and local stakeholders have expressed fears that the project could disrupt marine biodiversity, worsen coastal erosion, and compromise the island’s sustainability—jeopardizing the very foundation of its tourism-driven economy.”
BFI also pointed to the “lack of substantial improvements at the Caticlan International Airport,” operated by a San Miguel subsidiary, which “raises doubts about the ability of the proponent to effectively manage a project of this magnitude.”
Concerns have also been raised about how the bridge could affect the livelihood of some workers in the island, particularly the boatmen who ferry passengers from Caticlan to Boracay and vice versa.
Boracay has yet to fully recover from the effects of the pandemic. While arrivals in the island reached 2.08 million in 2024, 1.64 million were domestic tourists that spend less than foreign nationals, of which there were only 412,803. For comparison, in 2019, more than half of the two million tourists that visited Boracay were foreigners.
