The House Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon will launch in around two weeks' time its investigation on the controversial Manila Bay Dolomite Beach Project.

In a statement, Monday, Nov. 3, Ridon bared that the probe on the P389-million dolomite beach project would begin "in the week of November 17, 2025".

"The first hearing will focus on the project’s necessity based on (a) the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan and (b) the Supreme Court’s (SC) Continuing Mandamus for the rehabilitation of Manila Bay," he said.

"The hearing will also examine the project’s flooding impact on adjacent Ermita–Malate areas, including the status of the Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad drainage outfalls and any effects arising from the project’s engineering specifications," added the lawyer-solon.

Ridon says invitations will be sent to resource persons coming from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPD), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the city government of Manila.

Earlier, Ridon--as head of the public accounts panel--underscored the need to once and for all determine whether or not the artificial, white sand beach was truly needed in the first place.

"Ang tatanungin natin dyan, kinailangan bang maglagay po ng Dolomite beach sa Manila Bay o dapat bang nilagay nalang ho natin sa dagdag pang sewage treatment plant, ibig sabihin yun po talagang makakalinis po ng tubig ng Manila Bay," he said.

(The question we should ask is, was it necessary to put a Dolomite beach in Manila Bay, or should we have just allocated it instead to an additional sewage treatment plant, meaning something that would truly clean the waters of Manila Bay.)

White-colored dolomite sand was used for the so-called beach nourishment, coastal restoration, and enhancement of the Manila Baywalk area during the previous Duterte administration.

That it was carried out amid the Covid-19 pandemic raised a lot of eyebrows.

Referring to the upcoming inquiry, Ridon said 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.

He noted that these were the specific requirements under the SC's continuing Mandamus.