Environmental Ombudsman urged to probe Manila Bay dolomite dumping
MANILA, Philippines — An environmental group called on the environmental team of the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the alleged irregularities in the government’s project to dump artificial white sand along the shoreline of Manila Bay.
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment called on the Environmental Ombudsman Team to immediately launch a probe into “the alleged bloating of costs and cutting of regulatory corners in the Manila Bay dolomite dump.”
“This P389-million project represents just 0.83 percent of the entire P47-billion Manila Bay rehab program. The potential for large-scale corruption, dereliction of duty and ecological harm is completely unacceptable in these times of pandemic crisis,” Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, said in a statement Thursday.
According to the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, only P28 million of the P389 million allocation for the “beach nourishment” project was used for the crushed dolomite rocks.
The Environmental Ombudsman Team is mandated to take cognizance of any act or omission committed by any public official or agency mandated to protect the environment that appears to be illegal, improper or inefficient, or any malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance committed by any public employee if said act involves any violation of environmental concerns.
The DENR said that the “beach nourishment” project may control beach erosion and engineering interventions were in place, but several groups and scientists pointed out that dolomite dump is bound to be washed away by strong waves and flooding.
They also said that dolomite sand could potentially harm not only the bay’s marine ecosystem but also communities in and around the area.
“All kinds of red flags are therefore raised when a complete waste of taxpayer’s money that cannot be seen in any of the Manila Bay rehab and development blueprints, and does not have any environmental clearance, suddenly pops out of nowhere,” Dulce said.
Non-compliance, wilful violation
A coalition of environmental, fisherfolk and religious groups led by Oceana Philippines said it has begun sending its position paper on the dolomite dumping to government agencies, the Commission on Audit, the Office of the Ombudsman and the two legislative houses.
“Ang objective is mapatigil [ito] pero kung di mapatigil, those responsible for the damage should be held accountable,” Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, Oceana Philippines vice president, said in a forum Thursday.
(Our objective is to halt the project. But if this is not stopped, those responsible for the damage should be held accountable.)
Estenzo-Ramos, an environmental lawyer, said that the project should have undergone the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) system like other projects or undertakings which are seen to have a significant adverse impact to the quality of the environment and other consultative and participatory process.
DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda earlier said the project is not covered by the EIS system and only a certificate of non-coverage, which is issued for undertakings that are deemed unlikely to cause significant adverse impacts on the environment, was secured.
But Estenzo-Ramos said this is an admission that the project did not go through the EIS process.
“This CNC is a solid evidence of non-compliance and wilful violation of national laws,” Estenzo-Ramos.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources orders the closure of Aristocrat restaurant in Roxas Boulevard for "generating and discharging pollutive wastewater" amid the government's move to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
The Manila Bay rehabilitation program involves cleanup activities, relocation of illegal settlers as well as apprehension of establishments that violate the Philippine Clean Water Act and other environmental laws.
Last January 22, the Manila City government has ordered the temporary closure of Manila Zoo to allow the reconstruction of its sewer lines. The zoo is located near Estero de San Antonio Abad in Malate, Manila, which directly drains into the Manila Bay.
DENR ordered establishments around the bay to put up their own sewage treatment plants last January 11.
Fishers' group PAMALAKAYA reports that fishers witnessed a dredging vessel closely passing by their fishing boat off Cavite last night, October 7.
The continued dredging or reclamation off Manila Bay comes two months after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the suspension of reclamation in Manila Bay.
In its report, the group says the dredging vessel is involved in seabed quarrying in Cavite to fulfill several dump-and-fill projects in Manila Bay, particularly for the airport reclamation project in Bulacan.
It condemns the act saying it is "a proof that Marcos Jr's suspension order on reclamation is a sham, especially with the absence of an official Executive Order." — Rosette Adel
The Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach will be reopened to the public on May 20, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources announces.
NOW: Undersecretary Jonas Leones, during the flag raising ceremony of the Agency, announces the reopening of the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach on May 20. #TayoAngKalikasan pic.twitter.com/UMYmcQ6QIO
— ???? (@DENROfficial) May 16, 2022
A fishers' group slams the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for issuing an environmental compliance certificate to a reclamation project in Bulacan.
The DENR has granted San Miguel Corp. a permit for its P700-billion aerotropolis project that would cover over 2,500 hectares of Manila Bay.
Pamalakaya says the aerotropolis project is "on the opposite track" of the Manila Bay rehabilitation program.
“Reclamation defeats the purpose of rehabilitation as it endangers vital marine resources that keep Manila Bay abundant and biodiverse," Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap says.
Akbayan is calling on the original parties in the 2008 environmental protection case over Manila Bay to join them in questioning the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources' dolomite beach project.
The party does this in a statement after the Supreme Court denied its motion to intervene in the case, adding the court "has taken, quite sadly, a hands-off approach on an issue of transcendental importance."
It adds: "Even the high tribunal's statement that it found no violation of its continuing Mandamus is discouraging. It limited its findings to the reports submitted by the DENR on its specific directive to clean the waters of the bay and perform maintenance measures."
"It failed to include in its assessment the DENR's dumping of fake sand as a polluting act violative of its order."
Akbayan party-list will hold a "bicycle action" on November 3 "coinciding with the Supreme Court's en banc session to deliberate on the petition Akbayan filed on the dumping of dolomite sand along Manila Bay."
Bikers will meet at Plaza Salamanca in the morning and head to the Supreme Court gates in Padre Faura.
In its announcement, Akbayan says it is calling for the SC to "hold the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in contempt for dumping fake white sand in Manila Bay, which is in violation of the court's continuing Mandamus on the area, as well to save Manila Bay the right way."
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