San Miguel Aerocity Inc. (SMAI) has pushed back against claims blaming its flagship project, the New Manila International Airport (NMIA), for recent inundation in Bulacan, asserting that the facility is engineered with comprehensive flood mitigation measures to safeguard both the gateway and neighboring towns.
In a statement issued Thursday, the developer addressed rumors circulating on social media, emphasizing that no hydrological data, technical analyses or expert findings link the ongoing airport construction to the province’s rising waters.
“NMIA did not cause Bulacan’s flooding. This is a problem the province has had to contend with for many generations. Our responsibility is to make sure the airport is built for these conditions, and that its development does not make flooding in the province worse,” SMAI stated.
According to SMAI, severe flooding in Bulacan long predates the airport project. The company pointed to a combination of persistent geographic and environmental challenges, including low-lying terrain, torrential rainfall, heavy upstream river discharge, constrained river capacity and severe land subsidence. Additionally, regional development and rising sea levels have placed immense pressure on the province’s complex watershed system.
To address these vulnerabilities, SMAI highlighted that extensive technical evaluations began in 2018 with Danish international engineering firm DHI. The studies evaluated surrounding river basins, coastal water dynamics, historical storm surge patterns and land sinking rates to determine how raising the airport site would impact local drainage systems.
Subsequent assessments shaped the overall design. DHI’s initial 2019 flood mitigation study recommended engineered channels to ensure unimpeded water flow. Later, Dutch marine engineering firm Boskalis, in collaboration with DHI, refined the plan to navigate land constraints and protect local mangrove habitats by deepening the riverbeds of the Maycapiz-Taliptip, Santa Maria and Meycauayan Rivers while narrowing their base. In 2021, UK firm Mott MacDonald aligned the baseline data with International Finance Corporation standards, using extreme climate and subsidence projections through 2100 to design an airport platform raised between 3.85 meters and 5.50 meters above mean sea level.
SMAI also clarified a common misconception regarding the site’s footprint, reiterating that the NMIA project is not a reclamation initiative. Instead, it is a land preparation effort built on titled property in the municipality of Bulakan that previously operated as commercial fishponds.
Unlike coastal reclamation, which builds new land over open water, the developer is raising existing, inundation-prone land to higher ground. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has previously affirmed this distinction.
SMAI noted that the site’s challenging environmental conditions were fully anticipated during the planning phase. The location was selected because it provides the vast, contiguous space required for a multi-runway international gateway close to Metro Manila, a scope of expansion that the land-constrained Ninoy Aquino International Airport can no longer accommodate.