SAN Miguel Corp. President and CEO Ramon S. Ang appears to have changed his mind with regard to the controversial Pasig River Expressway (Parex) project.

"We're not [withdrawing our proposal], if there is a withdrawal there might be a violation," he told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing on Monday.

"We are trying to address it (environmental concerns), so it is on hold for now," he added.

Last March, Ang said: "...I am a businessman who, if I see that our countrymen do not want the project, I will not pursue [it]," in acknowledgment of concerns ranging from the project's impact on communities, the river itself and heritage sites, and questions regarding San Miguel's project assessment.

The San Miguel chief's reversal came after Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Alvin Carullo said that the Parex project was "technically ... still on the table because they (San Miguel) have not given the confirmation that they are terminating the contract or the project."

Carullo said that the TRB, the implementing agency for the project, had given the conglomerate six months from March to send an official notice about its plans.

A few days before Ang said that the Parex would not push through, the TRB received a letter from Pasig River Expressway Corp. asking for a six-month extension of the deadline to submit a final engineering design to address concerns raised by environmental groups and critics of the project.

The Parex is 19.37-km. six-lane, all-elevated expressway that will traverse the Pasig River from Radial Road 10 in Manila to a connection with the proposed South East Metro Manila Expressway at Circumferential Road 6.

Critics claim that it would disrupt the ecology of the river, harm communities along its path, and also degrade heritage sites such as the walled city of Intramuros.

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