THAT patch of white sand – actually crushed dolomite rock – in Manila Bay on Roxas Boulevard was in the news again last Thursday. A part of the beach had turned dark, apparently covered by black sand brought in by the waves from the bay.
Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and International Affairs Jonas Leones said the white dolomite is still there. “Due to the natural wave action of wash and backwash,” he said, “fresh sand, stones, rocks, and other materials piled up over the dolomite sand. DENR experts who inspected the site found nine to ten inches of various sediments on top of the dolomite overlay.”
Two weeks earlier, when people first noticed the white beach turning dark in some parts, DENR spokesman Benny Antiporda said it was a lie – referring to some criticism – that the white beach had been washed out. Black sand was washed in and covered the white dolomite, he said.
The first time the public learned of the white beach project with a budget of P389 million, the initial reaction was it seemed to come at a poor time – during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many people had lost their livelihood and the government was looking for funds to dole out to the neediest families.
It was defended by presidential spokesman Harry Roque as important for the mental health of the people, a glowing addition to the beautiful sunset on Manila Bay. Many people were willing to accept that the white beach did indeed look good.
But now there is this question of how long it can stay white. Twice in just a period of one month, strong waves from the bay brought black sand to cover the white. It will be restored with some considerable effort and expense – until the next big waves comes along. Even now, typhoon “Rolly” is coming from the east and is expected to be in the vicinity of Capas, Tarlac, by this morning. Its winds are bound to generate waves in Manila Bay.
And how many more storms are coming our way, each one sending waves crashing into the eastern shore of the bay, including that white dolomite beach? DENR officials said “engineering interventions” will keep the dolomite from being washed out to sea. But waves will keep bringing in black sand that will keep covering the white beach.
Perhaps the only engineering intervention that will work would be a wall just like that surrounding the US embassy compound beside it. But then it would cease to be beach. It would just be another compound, a valuable piece of real estate reclaimed from the sea.
Evidently those who conceived of the white beach project did not realize that it could not stand against natural forces of wind and sea in that part of Manila Bay. They were thinking of beautification, of mental health, when the real problem of Manila Bay is the pollution that has left its waters unfit for swimming.
There is still time to rethink the project and save some of the P389-million budget set aside for it. Perhaps the money should go to cleaning to cleaning up the bay, stopping the raw sewage flowing into it from thousands of toilet-less houses along the hundreds of streams pouring into the Pasig River and Manila Bay. And to setting up a long-planned but still nonexistent sewage treatment plant.
