Cite DENR in contempt over Manila beach, SC asked

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) was asked yesterday to cite the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in contempt for dumping crushed dolomite on Manila Bay.

In a 16-page motion-in-intervention, the Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party said the DENR violated the high court’s order for 16 government agencies, including the DENR, to clean up, rehabilitate and preserve Manila Bay.

The political party, represented by former Commission on Human Rights chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales, Rafaela Mae Lopez David and Raymond John Naguit, said the DENR failed to comply with the continuing mandamus issued by the SC in December 2008.

“Dumping artificial white sand to achieve a Boracay-like beach in Manila Bay is a violation of the SC directive,” Akbayan said.

The petitioner said the dumping of dolomite on Manila Bay “would probably cause irreparable damage to the coastal environment of the historic body of water.”

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu maintained that the P389-million white sand project along the baywalk of Roxas Boulevard is a vital component of the government’s Manila Bay rehabilitation program.

The agency said the project is in accordance with SC mandamus, which ordered government agencies to work together to rehabilitate the bay.

“In more than a decade since the order was issued, it was only under the Duterte administration that the government finally set in motion an honest-to-goodness undertaking to bring Manila Bay back to its former glory,” the DENR said.

The white sand project of the DENR drew flak due to possible environmental and health risks posed by crushed dolomite. – Elizabeth Marcelo