Who asked for a white sand beach in Manila Bay? Definitely not the 15,000 or so families languishing in poverty, hunger, and joblessness in Baseco, the biggest coastal informal settlement in Manila. Of course, the truckloads of crushed dolomite boulders that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed to be extracted from Cebu were not dumped near their community which is also along the bay, but in front of the 500-meter long seaside sunset viewing spot along Roxas Boulevard. The disbelief among environmental advocates, marine ecology experts, and fisherfolk leaders upon learning about what one of them called a “completely absurd” government project was to be expected.

Nicolas, G. M. (2020, September 20). A white sand beach in Manila Bay?. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A6.