MANILA (UPDATE) - San Miguel Corp’s president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said he got sick with COVID-19 three times in 2020.

During an online conference held by the Bureau of Internal Revenue on the country’s top taxpayers, the San Miguel boss narrated the challenges he faced last year.

“Ang natutunan natin ay maging humble. For the first time in my life, I’ve experienced na yung mga masasakit na pangyayari, na nangyari noong 2020. Namatayan po ako ng anak. Tatlong beses ako tinamaan ng COVID-19,” Ang said.

(We learned to be humble. For the first time in my life, I’ve experienced painful events, which all happened in 2020. I lost a son. I got sick with COVID-19 three times.)

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Ang said San Miguel Corp businesses were also disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sa negosyo naman ho, nahirapan po kami, marami talagang paghihirap yung negosyo. Pero sa ganon pa man, dahil sa maayos naman natin pinapatakbo ang negosyo natin, maganda ang kinalabasan.”

(Our business also suffered, our business also faced difficulties. But because we we run our business well, results were still good.)

San Miguels’ beers and spirits units saw incomes fall by more than half last year as authorities imposed liquor bans during the height of the lockdowns.

Petron, another unit of San Miguel, also saw its income fall sharply as the lockdown’s choked demand for fuels.

Ang meanwhile deflected suggestions that he run for President, saying he will continue to work in San Miguel Corp.

The tycoon also said San Miguel would continue with its infrastructure push.

The company recently opened the Skyway Stage 3, and is set to begin work for its massive airport project in Bulacan this month. San Miguel has also proposed to build a tollway that runs the length of the Pasig River to connect the eastern and western parts of Metro Manila.

The Transportation Department earlier also said the MRT-7, which is being built by San Miguel, may start partial operations by December.

The conglomerate is still waiting for clearance from the Toll Regulatory Board to begin charging motorists for use of the Skyway 3.

- Report from Warren de Guzman, ABS-CBN News

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