Officials of Cebu province are looking into the reported extraction of dolomite rocks that were pulverized into “white sand” to cover and beautify a small part of the Manila Bay shoreline under a much-criticized P349-million rehabilitation project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). “We were caught by surprise. This is alarming,” Provincial Board Member John Ismael Borgonia told reporters on Friday, a day after Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda disclosed, without providing further details, that the sand being used for the “beach nourishment” of Manila Bay was actually crushed rocks sourced from Cebu. Borgonia, who chairs the provincial board’s committee on environment conservation and natural resources, said that “even if the project was undertaken by the national government, the local government of Cebu should have been informed. They [national government] should have asked for the necessary permit and consent.”

Israel, D. G., Semilla, N., Valenzuela, N. G., Aurelio, J. M., Agoncillo, J. A. (2020, September 5). DENR 'white sand' haul alarms Cebu officials. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A2.