The House of Representatives’ investigation on the issues surrounding the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach will start by the third week of November and focus on whether or not the project was necessary, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said on Monday.
Ridon, in a statement said that the House committee on public accounts, which he chairs will check if the project fits the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan and the Supreme Court (SC) writ of continuing mandamus on the Manila Bay rehabilitation.
‘The House public accounts committee will begin proceedings on the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach Project in the week of November 17, 2025,’ Ridon said.
‘The first hearing will focus on the project’s necessity based on (a) the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan and (b) the Supreme Court’s Continuing Mandamus for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay,’ he added.
According to the lawmaker, the hearing will also check if the dolomite beach project really caused flooding to adjacent areas within the City of Manila.
‘The hearing will also examine the project’s flooding impact on adjacent Ermita-Malate areas, including the status of the Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad drainage outfalls and any effects arising from the project’s engineering specifications,’ he said.
‘The committee will also look at available alternative interventions and solutions to further ‘clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay,’ and improve its water quality to make it fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation – the specific requirements under the Supreme Court’s Continuing Mandamus,’ Ridon added.
It was also Ridon who filed House Resolution (HR) No. 56 last July 16, asking the House to check on the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach project due to environmental concerns that were supposedly disregarded by the past administration.
‘Scientific experts from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI) and the group Agham have formally requested that the DENR publish environmental and fisheries impact assessment data for the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach, warning that the project’s effects on marine habitats, sediment dynamics, and water quality remain unexamined and may pose risks to the bay’s ecosystem and coastal resilience,’ Ridon said in HR No. 56.
According to Ridon, the project was never part of the projects approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) for the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Master Plan.
During the time of president Rodrigo Duterte, several pro-environment advocates and public officials like former vice president Leni Robredo called out the DENR for implementing the multi-million project amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robredo said that the project reeks of insensitivity, noting that the government could have placed funds for the dolomite project – pegged at P349 million – to a P5,000 one-time cash aid for 80,000 families amid the health crisis.