Cimatu impresses Duterte with Manila Bay white sand completion

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday lauded Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay with its overlay of artificial white sand made of crushed dolomite, which the people are “now enjoying.”

“Let us begin by congratulating Secretary Cimatu. You know I remember that meeting [in Davao City] — I think everybody was there —when I said: ‘Can you clean this up?’ And the answer was very curtly given. He said: ‘I can work on it,’” Duterte said in a taped speech delivered partly in Filipino.

“People now are really enjoying the reclaimed area with the white sand at least,” he added. “He impressed me he accepted my dare. He just said he would Ido it. And people are now enjoying the benefits of the determined action of a Cabinet member to do good.”

During the same meeting in Davao City, the President also thanked other Cabinet members for helping him run the country.

“Without you, I would have a very hard time running the country. But because you are there — I’m not saying I have succeeded, that is for the people to assess or give when I’m no longer the president — but what I’m trying to impress also upon the people is that we are doing our job,” Duterte said.

Manila Bay recently had a makeover where crushed dolomite, which looks like white sand, was poured over a portion of the shore.

The project drew a crowd over the weekend when it was opened to the public with photos showing a throng of visitors not observing physical distancing despite the threat of COVID-19.

[atm]