The day of reckoning for the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach Project has arrived, in a press statement release by Bicol Saro Partylist  Representative Terry Ridon.

This week, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), through its Chairman Don Artes, identified the dolomite beach project as a direct contributor to the persistent flooding in the City of Manila. Specifically, it caused the blockage of three major drainage outfalls—Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad—forcing rainwater to be rerouted through a sewerage treatment plant incapable of handling flood volumes during heavy rains.

This devastating impact has prompted the filing of House Resolution No. 56 urging the House Committee on Public Accounts and other appropriate committees to conduct a full inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the necessity, cost, and environmental impact of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program—particularly the beach nourishment, coastal restoration, and enhancement of the Manila Baywalk area, otherwise known as the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach.

The inquiry shall address the following key questions:

                •             Whether the project was a necessary government expense to fulfill the Supreme Court’s Writ of Continuing Mandamus on Manila Bay rehabilitation;

                •             Whether it was subjected to a proper environmental impact study, especially with respect to flooding in the City of Manila;

                •             Whether its implementation aggravated flooding in adjacent areas due to the obstruction of drainage outfalls;

                •             Whether the ₱389 million project cost was within standard pricing for comparable beach nourishment works;

                •             And whether criminal and administrative liability attaches to government officials involved if the project is deemed:

                •             unnecessary or irrelevant to the mandamus,

                •             implemented without a proper EIA,

                •             grossly overpriced, or

                •             directly responsible for worsening Manila flooding.        

To be clear, the dolomite project was never part of the NEDA-approved Manila Bay Rehabilitation Master Plan. This was publicly admitted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) during congressional budget deliberations in 2020.

As such, it was never envisioned to protect Manila Bay’s coastal resources nor to prevent coastal flooding, erosion, or pollution. It is a cosmetic project masquerading as rehabilitation, and has now proven harmful to flood mitigation efforts in Manila.

It is nothing but a criminal wastage of public funds—₱389 million that could have been far better spent on sewage treatment plants and other engineering interventions grounded in science and sustainability.

We will undertake a full congressional inquiry, determine criminal and administrative liability, and hold every government official directly involved in the origination, planning, and implementation of this project accountable.

This is a project that was not in the master plan. And it now stands as a culprit in worsening floods in the heart of the nation’s capital.

On these grounds, graft charges are all but certain. And if, in the course of the inquiry, we find that the requirements for plunder are met, then so be it.