by: Leigh Jenessen A. San Diego
October 7, 2022
A cleanup drive was organized in the controversial dolomite beach in Manila Bay headed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in line with the International Coastal Cleanup Day last September 17, 2022. Over 4,000 volunteers participated in this dolomite beach cleanup drive including the different private organizations, private individuals and people from the government and they all collected over 4,500 sacks of garbage. DENR-Metropolitan Environmental Office (MEO) West OIC Director Rodelina de Villa mentioned that most of the garbage gathered were plastic wastes, dried water hyacinth, and marine debris. Meanwhile, prior to the activity, several environmental advocates have demanded for the closure of Dolomite Beach due to its impact on the environment.
This big activity has the theme of "Fighting for Trash Free Seas-Pilipinas: Ending the Flow of Trash at the Source." To note this particular cleanup drive has been one of eight cleanup activities conducted by DENR here in Metro Manila in line with the ICC Day. This event is celebrated every year, specifically on every third Saturday of September.
DENR's Approach to the Volunteers of the Dolomite Beach Cleanup Drive
Yabut and Reyes mentioned in their news article that International Coastal Cleanup Day has actually been originally commemorated in the American state of Washington in 1986, and had already been happening before environmental activists gathered at the famous bay. De Villa says that the dolomite beach demonstrates the significance of collaborative work of the different government sectors to combat coastal litter with the help of this cleanup drive. The national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, Jon Bonifacio emphasizes the importance of cleanup drive activity but he also addresses the issue of this activity being a good time for public officials to show up for pictures.
The sectors of government who cooperated in this cleanup drive are the Manila City government, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, Philippine National Police (PNP), PNP-Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard. In addition to this are the private organizations who also joined which are the Maynilad Water Services Inc., Manila Water Company Inc., and the Dragon Boat Federation of the Philippines.
"However big and daunting the task is, we can make a difference by bringing communities and people together to clean up beaches. Proof of this are organizations and individuals coming together at the Baywalk Dolomite Beach," de Villa said.
DENR also invited the public to take part in this activity as they announced a public advisory on their Facebook Page. Along with the announcement is informing the people about the objective of the activity concerning the essence of volunteerism to clean the sea and ocean and encouraging them to help in this cleanup drive. But it seems DENR didn't get positive feedback from the public, on the contrary, they received several criticisms in the Facebook post. Some commenters raised the issue of DENR spending millions of peso for the beach and questioning them about why they are asking the Filipinos to join the cleanup drive.
Dolomite Beach's Garbage
Prior to this latest cleanup drive for ICC in the dolomite beach, the coast had also experienced several cleanup drives since it was first opened to the public in 2021. The most recent cleanup activity before celebrating ICC gathered a minimum of 200 sacks of garbage in Manila Bay after the extreme damage brought by Typhoon Karding. As expected, most of the garbage collected is plastic waste like what was gathered in the previous cleanup drives up to the latest one.
With this continuous results for every cleanup drive conducted in the dolomite beach, several groups and advocates have been concerned about the potential impact of the beach to the public and to the environment.
Impact of Dolomite Beach on the Environment and Human's Health
Since then until now, the discussion of the impact of the dolomite beach on our environment has never ended. Along with this, there is also an issue regarding its effect on the health of the people going there to see this famous and controversial white sand. With that being said, several discussions about the dolomite beach will be anticipated between the government officials and environmental advocates in the upcoming days.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said last September 2, 2022 that the impact of the dolomite in Manila Bay to both environmental and social impacts will be investigated and she also assured ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, who is asking for the update for the rehabilitation program of dolomite, that she will keep to look very closely at the issue and will use their scientific evaluation and social vulnerability evaluation.
Aside from asking for updates, Castro also put an emphasis on the impact of the positioning of dolomite as it was assumed to be the main cause of the flood in some streets in Manila. On the contrary, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority later cleared the allegations about the flood and said that the real cause of the flood is the ongoing constructions of three pumping stations and a pipeline by the Department of Public Works and Highways. However, Oceana, which is a non-profit global advocacy organization that strives to preserve the oceans, argues that the dolomite project still has the high probability to be a danger to our nature.
According to the article of Baclig (2022), it was cited in some prior research that the activity of dumping and filling can make bodies of water at risk to environmental hazards, just like what the government did to the dolomite beach in Manila Bay. Doing this kind of activity can make Manila Bay prone to flood, storm surge, and other phenomena caused by extreme occurrence of weather.
Together with this issue of environmental hazard is the issue of the risk factor of dolomite sand to the health of everyone inhaling it. In a news article published by Galvez two years ago, the Department of Health has marked that dumping dolomite can endanger the health of the people, particularly respiratory health problems. In addition to that, the DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online forum that dolomite dust can also irritate the eyes once it goes inside. She then added that washing it off with water can help the discomfort. Likewise, Vergeire also noted the possible effect once the dolomite sand was taken into the body and a person can potentially experience diarrhea and stomach ache.
On the other hand, couple days after the statement was made by Vergeire, a news article published by Hallare now argued that DOH announced that people should not have to worry about the health risks factor brought by the dolomite beach since the DENR revealed the dolomite sand is a hundred times bigger than dust. This means that a dolomite in bulk size cannot be a health hazard but dolomite dust can be.
"Dolomite in dust form can lead to symptoms such as chest discomfort, shortness of breath, and coughing for this is our body’s normal reaction to irritants,” DOH said.
Moreover, Vergeire also mentioned the clearance of DENR in doing this project, saying, "I think with the clearance of the DENR, hindi naman ipapatupad ng DENR yan kung hindi nila napag-aralan na this will cause harm to the environment and also to our people."
Call for Closure of the Dolomite Beach
Even before the cleanup drive, several environmental advocates have requested and supported the call for the closure of the dolomite beach. Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap described dolomite beach as a disaster to our environment. Hicap explained that Yulo-Loyzaga should admit how the dolomite project became an ultimate failure. With that, he then suggested that DENR should focus the project into the definite restoration of Manila Bay and not on the centralization of giving an aesthetic picture of the beach.
"Secretary Yulo-Loyzaga should take a 180-degree turn and reverse her predecessor's ill-conceived programs that are destructive in nature. She must carry out a genuine rehabilitation of Manila Bay by rejecting destructive projects such as reclamation," Hicap stated.
On the other hand, in October 2021, the dolomite beach was closed to the public so the DENR can focus on the rehabilitation efforts in Manila Bay. Beside rehabilitation works, the situation of unable to manage the number of visitors to the beach also lead to its closure. The dolomite beach only reopened last June 12, 2022 following the statement of acting Environment Secretary Jim Sampulna saying, "This is the good legacy of the Duterte administration, that’s why we really aim to open it before President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s term ends."
Controversies of Dolomite Beach
The name dolomite beach was already stuck with controversies, especially about the proposed funds to the rehabilitation program of the beach. Several criticisms have DENR encountered in their budget proposal way back 2020. Php 389 million was the first budget for the rehabilitation program while the additional funds that DENR assigned for the second phase of the program was Php 265 million. On the other hand, it was reported in a news article of Punay last 2021 that there will be no funds designated for dolomite projects this 2022.
As we remembered, despite several disputes about the rehabilitation program of DENR to Manila Bay, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque resists the attacks of the critics about the allocated funds for the program and upholds his beliefs that the beautification of Manila Bay and placement of the dolomite in the beach can help and satisfy the mental health of the public. The statement he released about this became trending overtime two years ago.
Keywords:
DENR
Dolomite
Dolomte beach
Manila Bay
International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICC)
Cleanup drive
Impact to environment / Environmental impact
Environmental advocates
References:
Aguilar, K. (2020). ‘White-sand’ Manila Bay to benefit Filipinos’ mental health – Roque. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1332269/white-sand-manila-bay-to-benefit-filipinos-mental-health-roque/amp
Baclig, C. (2022). Tip of the iceberg: Dolomite beach and flooding in Manila. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1651898/tip-of-the-iceberg-dolomite-beach-and-flooding-in-manila
Baua, N. (2022). 200 sacks of trash recovered from Dolomite Beach after Karding onslaught. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.abs-cbn.com/amp/news/09/26/22/sacks-of-trash-recovered-from-dolomite-beach-after-karding
Cariaso, B. (2022). Group seeks closure of Dolomite Beach. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/10/news/national/group-seeks-closure-of-dolomite-beach/1853960/amp
CNN Philippines Staff. (2022). DENR: Manila’s dolomite beach reopening on June 12. Retrieved from https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/6/1/Manila-Bay-dolomite-beach-reopens-June-12.html
Galvez, D. (2020). Take it from DOH: Dolomite dust can cause respiratory issues, other health hazards. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1332196/take-it-from-doh-dolomite-dust-can-cause-respiratory-issues-other-health-hazards/amp
Hallare, K. (2020). Dolomite ni Manila Bay 'white beach' won't cause health risks, DOH now says. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1333410/dolomite-in-manila-bay-white-beach-wont-cause-health-risks-doh-now-says/amp
Marcelo, E. (2021). Dolomite beach closed until 2022. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/nation/2021/11/04/2138799/dolomite-beach-closed-until-2022/amp/
Punay, E. (2021). ‘No funds allocated for dolomite project in 2022’. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/nation/2021/09/24/2129254/no-funds-allocated-dolomite-project-2022/amp/
Reyes, D. & Yabut A. (2022). Dolomite Beach becomes focus of coastal cleanup. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1665969/dolomite-beach-becomes-focus-of-coastal-cleanup/amp
Reyes, D. (2022). Gov’t to assess environmental, social impacts of ‘dolomite beach’. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1657785/govt-to-assess-environmental-social-impacts-of-dolomite-beach
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