Malacanang said on Friday that the government is using crushed dolomite boulders in Manila Bay and not white sand.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said this was the information relayed to his office by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"The report that 'white sand' is being used to fill the stretch of the bay walk is erroneous," he said in a statement.

As per DENR, Roque said, "crushed dolomite boulders" would be utilized for the Manila Bay rehabilitation project.

Internet searches said dolomite is a sedimentary rock and, like limestone, comes in various colors such as white-to-gray and white-to-brown, while red, green and black are also possible.

"This forms part of the cleaning up of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program with an allocated budget, which began even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," Roque said.

Some environmental groups, such as fisherfolk Pamalakaya, criticized the DENR for having no concrete plan to restore Manila Bay, thus, resorting to external beautification, which was sham and artificial.

Pamalakaya president Fernando Hicap said the DENR could have instead planted mangroves and seagrass on the bay.

In a previous Supreme Court ruling, it ordered various government agencies, including the DENR, to rehabilitate Manila Bay. Celerina Monte/DMS