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FILE – Dolomita Beach along Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Oct.9, 2020.
RESEARCH PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has yet to find any violation of its continuing mandate for government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
In a statement from its Public Information Office, the high court, during Tuesday’s en banc session, denied Akbayan’s party list offer to intervene in the case and cited DENR for throwing rocks of crushed dolomite along a stretch. from the body of water to create an artificial white sand beach.
“The Court held that it has not yet found any violation of the ongoing mandamus amid the quarterly reports submitted by the concerned agencies and the on-site ocular inspection conducted by the Manila Bay Advisory Committee (MBAC),” the higher court said. .
“The Court, at least for the moment, must maintain its disciplinary hand,” he added. The president of the Supreme Court Diosdado Peralta chairs the MBAC.
The high court added that intervening in a case that is already final and enforceable “is not viable” because it is now being executed “although still under judicial supervision as a necessary consequence of the permanent order for the constant cleaning and maintenance of the bay and its waters.” .
Since the final character of the decision, the CS said its jurisdiction is limited to guaranteeing the successful implementation of the mandamus.
The president of the Supreme Court Diosdado Peralta is the member in charge of the case, being the only magistrate left of the CS, who issued the historic 2008 ruling that ordered 13 government agencies led by the DENR and the MMDA to clean, rehabilitate and preserve the Manila Bay.
It will be recalled that in its plea filed last September, Akbayan also asked the SC to hold DENR in contempt for dumping dolomite sand in the area as part of its P389 million beautification project.
Akbayan said the “dolomite white sand beach” in Manila Bay violated the mandamus as it will not rehabilitate or restore the area.
He also cited the potential public health hazards of dolomite.
The high court reiterated that its directive to DENR and other interested agencies is to clean the waters of Manila Bay and carry out maintenance measures to keep it within legal standards for cleanliness for recreational purposes.
“The project (dolomites beach) that proceeds as it is from the DENR beach nutrition program, is not an allied or related activity sanctioned by the car, therefore, it could hardly be objectively measured as a deviation from the government’s mandate as stated define in said car. ,” He said.
Containment is generated only when the alleged dangerous potential of dolomite enters the picture, he added.
“It is clear that the bone of contention at all times is not the project itself, but the material used to carry it out,” he said, adding that the issue now becomes a “factual matter that the Court normally does not considers”.
“It is a challenge that is properly in the realm of political questions in which the Court can not venture even incidentally in a process of contempt in the given circumstances,” he added.
The Health Department previously said that crushed dolomite could pose health risks, especially respiratory problems.
But then he stepped back and claimed otherwise. [ac]
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