FILE – Dolomite Beach along Roxas Boulevard, Manila on October 9, 2020.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippine — The Supreme Court has not yet found any violation of its continuing mandamus for government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
In a statement from its Public Information Office, the high court, during its Tuesday’s en banc (full court) session, has denied the bid of Akbayan party-list to intervene in the case and cite the DENR for dumping crushed dolomite rocks along a stretch of the water body to create an artificial white sand beach.
“The Court held that it has not yet found any violation of the continuing mandamus amidst the quarterly reports submitted by the concerned agencies and the on-site ocular inspection conducted by the Manila Bay Advisory Committee (MBAC),” the high court said.
“The Court, at least for the time being, should stay its disciplining hand,” it added. Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta chairs the MBAC.
The high court added that intervening to a case that is already final and executory is “not viable” because it is now already being executed “albeit still under judicial supervision as a necessary consequence of the standing mandamus for the constant clean up and maintenance of the bay and its waters.”
From the finality of the decision, the SC said its jurisdiction is limited to ensuring the mandamus’ successful implementation.
Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta is the member-in-charge of the case, being the only remaining justice of the SC, which came out with the landmark 2008 ruling directing 13 government agencies led by the DENR and the MMDA to clean, rehabilitate and preserve the Manila Bay.
It will be recalled that in its plea filed last September, Akbayan also asked the SC to cite the DENR in contempt for dumping dolomite sand in the area as part of its P389 million beautification project.
Akbayan said the “dolomite white sand beach” in Manila Bay violated the mandamus as it will not rehabilitate and restore the area.
It also cited the possible health hazards to the public of the dolomite.
The high court reiterated that its directive to the DENR and other concerned agencies is to clean the waters of Manila Bay and perform maintenance measures to keep it within the legal standards of cleanliness for recreational purposes.
“The project (dolomite beach) proceeding as it is from the DENR’s beach nourishment program, is not an allied or related activity sanctioned by the writ, hence, could hardly be objectively measured as a deviation from the government’s mandate as defined in the said writ,” it said.
It added that the contention is bred only when the dolomite’s alleged hazardous potential enters the picture.
“It becomes clear that the bone of contention all along is not the project per se but the material used to carry it out,” it said, adding the issue now becomes a “factual one not ordinarily entertained by the Court.”
“It is a challenge that properly lies in the realm of political questions which the Court may not venture into even incidentally in a contempt proceeding under the given circumstances,” it added.
The Department of Health earlier said the crushed dolomite could pose health risks, especially respiratory problems.
But it later backtracked and claimed otherwise. [ac]
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