A House panel that probed the alleged anomalies in the flood control projects will pivot to the artificial Manila Bay Dolomite Beach, which is being blamed as the major contributor to worsening flooding in the metro.

House public accounts committee chair Terry Ridon announced Monday that the investigation is scheduled for 17 November, focusing on the project’s compliance with the 20008 Supreme Court’s  Mandamus ruling and its impact on adjacent areas—Ermita and Malate—which are highly prone to flooding. 

The panel will also assess the status of the nearby areas—Padre Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad drainage outfalls—and determine the extent of the project’s effects on these areas. 

“The committee will also look at available alternative interventions and solutions to further ‘clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve Manila Bay,’ and improve its water quality to make it fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation — the specific requirements under the Supreme Court’s Continuing Mandamus,” Ridon said. 

‘Useless’ project by Duterte admin

Ridon’s colleague in the minority bloc, ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, contended that it’s “about time” to scrutinize the dolomite project built by the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as it was deemed “completely useless.”

Over P600 million was spent by the government on the dolomite beach, which cannot even be considered a real rehabilitation, raising suspicions of fund misuse or corruption, according to Tinio. 

“Everyone involved in this project must be held accountable, including the president himself,  because this is a project of the former president,” he told reporters on Monday. 

The looming House probe was triggered by reports from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which blamed the dolomite beach project for causing massive floods along Taft Avenue.  

In July, MMDA chair Romando Artes said the blockage of three major drainage outfalls—Faura, Remedios, and Estero San Antonio Abad—during the construction of the artificial beachfront, forcing rainwater to be rerouted through a sewerage treatment plant incapable of handling flood volumes during heavy rains.

The dolomite beach has faced backlash from critics, who claim the so-called restoration is merely cosmetic and has little to do with rehabilitation.

Ridon previously claimed that the dolomite project was never part of the NEDA-approved Manila Bay Rehabilitation Master Plan, as publicly admitted by its implementing agency, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, during congressional budget deliberations in 2020.

“As such, it was never envisioned to protect Manila Bay’s coastal resources nor to prevent coastal flooding, erosion, or pollution. It is a cosmetic project masquerading as rehabilitation, and has now proven harmful to flood mitigation efforts in Manila,” he pointed out. 

Aside from a congressional inquiry, the panel also vowed to determine whether officials involved in the project would be held administratively liable and accountable for a possible graft.