MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Friday defended its “white sand” makeover of Manila Bay’s shore, saying it will discourage people from throwing garbage in the area.
“If you will look at it, this is also a sort of awareness to all the people, na alam naman natin na ang tao kapag may kulay puti ay ayaw natin marumihan ito,” Environment Undersecretary and spokersperson Benny Antiporda told GMA-7’s Unang Balita.
(If you will look at it, this is also a sort of awareness to all people. We know that people don’t want white areas to get dirty.)
“Ito ay isang information campaign din nang malaman ng tao na kailangan na po natin pangalagaan ang ating Manila Bay na ‘wag na po natin itong dumihan,” he added.
(This is also an information campaign for people to know that we should now take care of Manila Bay and not litter on it.)
According to Antiporda, the “white sand” project is part of the P389 million beach nourishment initiative for Manila Bay.
He also urged environmentalists and fisherfolk groups opposing the project to conduct a study first before coming up with their opinions.
According to Antiporda, the “white sand” is made of crushed dolomite, a calcium magnesium carbonate, that were transported from Cebu province to Manila.
“In the first place, ang nilagay po diyan ay dolomite boulders na dinurog na talaga naman pong ginagamit ng resorts and beaches bilang white sand nila. Ang content po nito ay calcium carbonate na ganun din ang content ng sea coral. Kung kaya ‘wag po sila masyadong negatibo sa buhay,” he told critics of the project.
(In the first place, we used crushed dolomite boulders which are being used in resorts and beaches as white sand. Its content is calcium carbonate that is also the content of sea coral. That’s why they should not be too negative about life.)
“Doon po sa mga nagsasabi na ‘yung mga tributaries ay hindi daw muna in-address, in-address po lahat ‘yan, lahat pati ‘yung rivers, creeks leading to Manila Bay, lahat ay in-address ‘yan ng ating regional offices,” the official also added.
(To those who say we did not consider the tributaries, I would say our regional offices addressed all of it, the rivers and creeks leading to Manila Bay.)