A boat leaves the Guadalupe Ferry Station along the Pasig River in Makati on January 12, 2024.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA - Months after saying that the Pasig River Expressway will no longer push through, San Miguel Corp said on Tuesday that it may still pursue the project.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, San Miguel said an affiliate company is still studying the viability of the project. 

This was after San Miguel Corp President and CEO Ramon Ang was quoted by other news outlets saying that the company was not withdrawing its bid to build PAREX. 

In its PSE disclosure, SMC said its PAREX Corp is studying the issues raised against the project with the aim of addressing these concerns.

It said PAREX Corp "is presently conducting a thorough evaluation and study of all the factors and concerns that may affect and have an impact on the viability of the construction and operation of the Pasig River Expressway Project, with the end in view of satisfactorily addressing such factors and concerns, inclusive of the sentiments expressed on the possible effects of the Project on the environment.

Last March 18, Ang said San Miguel was no longer pursuing the construction of the PAREX).

"Yung project, hindi ko itutuloy (The project, I won't push it anymore)," Ang was quoted then, citing opposition to the proposed tollway.

But on Monday, the Toll Regulatory Board said San Miguel has yet to formally cancel the project, which means the tollway "is still on the table."

PAREX was planned to be a 19-kilometer 6-lane elevated tollway running the length of the Pasig River.

It was expected to reduce travel time between the Eastern and Western sections of Metro Manila and connect Rizal province to Manila.

Environmentalists and heritage advocates however opposed the project saying it would further damage the already polluted Pasig river and would be an eyesore along Metro Manila's main waterway.

Transport advocates also doubted that the expressway would lessen congestion in Metro Manila