San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has tapped architect and urban planner Felino ‘Jun’ Palafox as a consultant for all of its future expressway and mass transit projects.
In a statement on Tuesday, SMC said that Palafox will help integrate sustainability features into the company’s upcoming infrastructure projects, such as the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) project.
Palafox, founder and head of architectural firm Palafox Associates, is one of the country’s top urban planners. He is known for advocating and incorporating sustainable features and environment planning into their projects.
As a consultant, SMC said that Palafox will “help find ways to sustainably retrofit the company’s existing road networks to further meet social, economic and environmental needs.”
“Our expressway projects are all designed to decongest Metro Manila’s major roads by diverting more private vehicles and freeing up space for commuters and public transportation. But they are also designed to serve as a platform for other modes of mobility, including mass transportation such as bus rapid transit (BRT) or high-capacity point-to-point (P2P) transport systems. Palafox will help us bring all these to reality,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said.
“For our next-generation developments, like the airport, airport city, PAREX, and expressway and mass rail projects benefitting our provinces, we can be more deliberate and purposive in terms of urban planning and design. We can incorporate learnings from previous developments in the country and around the world,” he added.
The 19.4-kilometer PAREX project is a six-lane elevated expressway along the banks of the Pasig River that will complete the north-south, east-west link, connecting R-10 in Manila, EDSA, and C-5 and decongesting Rizal, Cainta, and Marikina.
The project is seen to provide a faster alternative access to the business districts in Makati, Ortigas, and BGC. The PAREX project is eyed to be completed by 2023.
