ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Duterte vouches for Cimatu's work on Manila Bay: 'Dolomite is beautiful'

Duterte vouches for Cimatu's work on Manila Bay: 'Dolomite is beautiful'

Published Aug 27, 2021 12:02 am

President Duterte has defended the Department of Environment and Natural Resources's (DENR) efforts in rehabilitating Manila Bay, specifically its use of crushed dolomite rocks along its shore line.

President Duterte speaks during his "Talk to the People" public briefing on Aug. 26, 2021. (Screenshot from Facebook live)

In his pre-recorded "Talk to the People" public briefing on late Thursday night, Aug. 26, the President was listening to DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu's presentation regarding the agency's accomplishments when he felt the need to chime in on the dolomite issue.

"Dolomite is beautiful to the eyes, period. 'Wag ka na magtanong kasi hindi naman ninyo kaya kung kayo (Don't even ask because if it's you, you would be incapable of doing it). You had your chance, actually. For so many years, you had every chance to do it," Duterte said.

"Was there anybody willing to take the problem by its horns? Si Cimatu lang (Only Cimatu)," he stressed.

The DENR dumps crushed dolomite rocks along the beach in Manila Bay as part of its “beach nourishment” activity. The crushed dolomite, which approximates white sand, gives the artificial beach its striking appearance.

However, the use of dolomite is controversial since the rocks have cost the government millions in cash amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Attesting to Cimatu's competence, Duterte pointed to how the DENR chief has transformed the "cesspool" that was Boracay.

"Ginagawa na nga ni Secretary Cimatu para mapaganda ang lahat. Tignan mo ngayon ang Boracay. Noon, maraming magagandang babae na naliligo doon, Roy. Noong pinaganda mo, mas lalong pinakamagandang lahat na babae sa buong mundo, nandyan na. Ayaw mo pa yan? (Secretary Cimatu has been trying to beautify everything. Look at Boracay. Back then, a lot of beautiful women go to the beach there, Roy. When you improved the place, even more of the most beautiful women in the world went there. And you don't like that?)" he said.

"What is beautiful is beautiful, period," added the Chief Executive.

He went on to further laud Cimatu, who is a former chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

"Pasalamat tayo. Itong mga ito mga retired military na ito, ayaw na nito magtrabaho, pinipilit ko lang (Let's be thankful. These retired members of the military, they don't want to work anymore, I just convinced them to)."

Related Tags

President Duterte roy cimatu Manila Bay dolomite 82621 Talk to the People DENR
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.