MANILA - San Miguel Corp on Friday assured the public that it would take proper "engineering interventions" to reduce the risk of flooding on the proposed site of the new international airport in Bulacan.

During a Senate hearing on the approval of its franchise, environmental groups flagged the project noting that the site was a former mangrove forest.

The site is flood-prone because it is located in a "flat plane" surrounded by several rivers, Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Renato Solidum said.

"We fully agree with Dr. Renato Solidum of Phivolcs’ observation that proper engineering intervention measures are needed to mitigate risks such as flooding, which, as was pointed out during the hearing, are present not just in Bulacan or Manila Bay, but in many coastal areas throughout the Philippine archipelago," SMC president and COO Ramon Ang said in a statement.

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San Miguel's unit was chosen to build the P740-billion New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan, about 30 km north of Metro Manila.

Ang said sustainable measures were embedded into the airport's design. The project will be built with no cost to the government so the public can be assured that SMC has studied all possible risks, he said.

Three major global construction firms were tapped for the project, namely: Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris), Meinhardt Group, and Jacobs Engineering Group, SMC said.

Both chambers of Congress have approved SMC's franchise to build the new international gateway in Bulacan.

• House OKs San Miguel Corp franchise to build, operate new Bulacan airport