Sinking Sand: Suspend the Manila Bay project, Mr. President
An infrastructure-oriented thinktank urged President Rodrigo Duterte to suspend the implementation of the Manila Bay white sand project given daily reports that the edges of the artificial beach have started leaching into the surrounding waters.
“Mr. President, the thing speaks for itself. Only days had passed since launching yet the waves are already eating into this administration’s version of Manila Film Center and Expo Filipino. Clearly, the engineering intervention has failed, if there even was one. Time to cut our losses, Mr. President. DENR officials had dampened your diplomatic jetski on the West Philippine Sea arbitral ruling with this day-to-day comedy of errors in Manila Bay.”
This was the statement of Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convenor and former urban poor chief of Mr. Duterte.
Local Government Code (LGC) violation: No Manila City Council resolution approving project
Ridon said DENR not only violated its own regulations, but also failed to get local government approval for the extraction and dumping of dolomite in Cebu and Manila, respectively.
“Sections 26 and 27 of the LGC require consultations and the prior approval of the sanggunians in the affected local government units of Alcoy and Manila. Both LGUs have not issued resolutions approving the extraction and dumping of dolomite in their areas. It is therefore imperative for Manila Mayor Isko Moreno to suspend project implementation unless and until the Manila City Council has approved the dumping of dolomite in their jurisdiction.”
Ridon, who successfully opposed the construction of a coal-fired power plant through a Writ of Kalikasan, said the lack of LGU approvals was among the issues raised in previous environmental cases.
DENR’s erroneous math
Smoking causes cialis 10mg blood vessel constriction, which bears upon the vascular system that leads to the blockage of your arteries. But, if they feel that other factors viagra tablet in india are the root of the problem. Being happy with absolutely comfortable and sophisticated designs and bold checkered prints with the individualism that brand always give to viagra online unica-web.com the products. Buying online levitra cost low gives you the advantage of ordering your medication from home as well as providing additional energy and being a natural “youth” remedy.“We also find amusing the absolutely erroneous calculations being foisted on the public by DENR officials. We reiterate that regardless of any construction standard, whether by length (cost per km), volume (cost per cubic meter), or as DENR officials insist, by area (cost per square meter), the contract price remains high given estimated costs. DENR officials should note that overpricing remains constant, even if the divisor is changed (i.e. by area or by cubic meter) because overpricing is reflected by the difference between the cost and the price. Even if DENR’s project calculation on a per area basis stands at P12,267 per square meter, it will remain overpriced if the contract price remains forty-fifty percent above market costs.”
Ridon said he does not need lecturing on Math 101 as DENR officials insist.
“We studied economics and finance in UP and Boston.”
Ridon studied growth economics at the Harvard Kennedy School and finance at the Harvard Business School.
Stick to the issues
“We find it amusing that the nonrelevant issue of official foreign travels is being raised at this time. This had already been sufficiently addressed in the last two years: all of these trips had full authority from the Office of the President, and joined by multi-agency delegations. DENR officials should stick to the relevant issues: the Manila Bay project violated environmental laws, the sand is already leeching into the water, and the project costs appear significantly higher than market rates.”
“In fact, a review of the official travels of other Cabinet members at that time would show that they had significantly more official foreign travels yet they were never dismissed by the President. This includes cabinet members from the communications, budget, labor and agriculture departments of government. It puts into sharp relief the double standard and hypocrisy of this administration. Clearly, this line of attack will not benefit the project and even drags the President and other officials into a very awkward position.”