Bridge too far — for RSA

The proposed P7.78-billion bridge to connect the barangay of Caticlan to the country’s premier holiday island destination, Boracay, is not merely an infrastructure project. This unsolicited proposal by Ramon S. Ang’s San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC) to build a 1.4-kilometer bridge that will be part of the larger 2.54-kilometer bridge system spanning mainland Malay municipality in Aklan to Boracay will be a referendum on whether the Philippine government will prioritize profit over people and environmental preservation.

Despite significant resistance from local government units, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay, the Boracay Foundation Inc., the boatmen who will be displaced, and local residents — all concerned about the destruction of the environment, the marine ecosystem, and the island’s rustic appeal — the Department of Public Works and Highways awarded the contract to SMHC.

The opposition coming from all sides reveals a project riddled with ecological risks, economic disruption, and a glaring lack of transparency.

Given Ang’s questionable rehabilitation and management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which resulted in fatal incidents, the government should protect Boracay’s fragile charm and abandon this bridge project entirely.

The environmental case against the bridge is damning. Boracay’s 2018 rehabilitation, when then-President Rodrigo Duterte closed the island for six months for a thorough cleanup, was a hard-won victory against overdevelopment and environmental degradation.

Constructing bridge supports would destroy coral reefs and seagrass beds, trigger severe coastal erosion, blemish the island’s famed limestone-white sand, and invite unchecked vehicle pollution onto an island with narrow roads incapable of handling much traffic.

Opponents of the Caticlan-to-Boracay bridge project rightly argue that removing the “adventure” part of getting to Boracay by boat destroys its island mystique, turning a protected area into a congested day-trip destination.

Economically, the bridge is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The displacement of 400 to 500 boatmen who ferry visitors from Caticlan to Boracay and back, and port workers, would devastate their thousands of dependents.

Meanwhile, the province of Aklan and the municipality of Malay (which has jurisdiction over Boracay island) stand to lose over P600 million annually in terminal fees and taxes — revenue that currently funds hospitals and social services.

To trade sustainable local livelihoods for a single corporation’s toll revenue is not progress — it is predation.

The most urgent reason for rejecting this project, though, is Ramon Ang’s own record. The DPWH touts the bridge as a “critical infrastructure,” but a critical infrastructure requires a steward with proven competence and care for human life.

Ang’s New NAIA Infra Corp. took over the international airport’s operations in September 2024. Within months, disaster struck. In May 2025, an SUV crashed through protective traffic barriers at Terminal 1, killing two people — including a child — and injuring several others.

More recently, on Good Friday of 2026, a ceiling collapsed in Terminal 1’s arrival extension area, injuring seven travelers.

These are not minor mishaps; they are systemic failures of a safety oversight. A businessman who cannot secure an airport’s ceilings or traffic barriers should not be trusted to build a bridge over a sensitive marine ecosystem, where a structural or operational failure could trigger an environmental catastrophe and loss of life.

Island-based Boracay Foundation Inc. correctly noted that Ang — who already operates Caticlan Airport — should focus instead on upgrading existing assets rather than on expanding his footprint on the island. Yet the pattern is clear: the rapid acquisition of public contracts followed by compromised safety and transparency.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Aklan and the Sangguniang Bayan of Malay have passed formal resolutions rejecting the bridge project due to the lack of consultation, among other issues. Their voices must be heeded.

The government should abandon this project immediately. It should retain the ferry system that sustains local families, be vigilant about protecting the coral reefs, and preserve Boracay’s hard-won rehabilitation.

Let the island maintain the small adventure it takes to reach it — and let it not be a monument to one businessman’s overeager ambition at the expense of public safety and ecological sanctity.