‘STOP RENEWED DOLOMITE DUMPING ON MANILA BAY’
OUR civil society organization, Oceana, is urging the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to immediately order its contractor to stop dumping new loads of crushed dolomite on the baywalk area of the Manila Bay.
Our appeal is based on news that fresh coats of dolomite sand were placed on Manila Bay early Wednesday morning, April 14, 2021 by several backhoe operators, pouring and leveling crushed dolomite rocks there.
We pointed out that instead of tending to the flawed beautification project of Manila Bay, the government needs to prioritize addressing adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its citizens.
What is happening now is appalling: people in need of protection from an alarmingly fast transmission of Covid-19 and its rising number of deaths. Subsidies for the poor due to loss of income and worries of their families dying not only of the disease but also from hunger.
The UP Marine Science Institute, in a statement in September 2020, said the “dolomite sand will only erode, given the hydrodynamic conditions of the bay. Even with the breakwater off the baywalk area, rising level of seas and larger waves during typhoons, especially with climate change, can penetrate and pound that area”
According to the science institute, “continuously replacing the sand will be even more expensive.”
Oceana believes the project is just a “band-aid” solution.
Dolomite dumped in the area from September to December 2020 has already been reclaimed by the sea.
From December 2020 to February 2021, this dolomite beach has eroded at least 300 square meters.
And yet, those behind this project are refilling the baywalk area again and even extending the area.
We demand that an environmental impact assessment be conducted on the project, despite the DENR’s refusal to do so, saying the “beautification project will be beneficial to the environment.”
What the project contractors are doing is reclaiming parts of Manila Bay. Any kind of land reclamation would result in large displacement of the marine sediments and development of mud waves beneath the reclamation fill.
Manila Bay is a key biodiversity area identified by the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau and a sardine spawning ground identified by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources through the National Fisheries Research Development Institute.
It is the spawning ground of the Fringescale sardinella, Sardinella fimbriata with high biomass concentration in the Metro Manila area.
Not only us, but other critics and the public have slammed the project, questioning its necessity and costs as the Philippines continues to struggle against the spread of Covid-19.
Still, the DENR and the Department of Public Works and Highways defend their decision to dump crushed dolomite along the Manila Bay shores, saying it serves as an “enhancer” for the beautification project in the area.
We also believe that this multimillion-peso dolomite dumping on Manila Bay will not help solve the root of the bay’s environmental problems, which is poor water quality.
Efforts can be directed to solving the environmental problems, which include: reducing chemical, organic and plastic pollution; installing water treatment facilities; banning the cutting of mangroves and rehabilitating degraded areas; stopping conversion of mangroves and wetlands through reclamation projects; protecting critical habitats such as mangroves and wetlands and declare them as protected areas; improving management of protected areas such as the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area and establishing formally the Fisheries Management Area for a holistic, science-based decision-making on fisheries management.
Oceana is an international advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans.
Since 2014, it has been working closely with national and local government agencies, civil society, fisherfolk and other stakeholders to restore the abundance of Philippine fisheries and marine resources.
ATTY. GLORIA ESTENZO RAMOS Vice President, Oceana