HALITOSIS cannot be cured by chewing white Mentos, in the same manner that the waters of Manila Bay cannot be cleaned by simply layering a small stretch of its beachfront with white sand or, to be more accurate, with crushed dolomite imported from Cebu. The muck and dirt of the waters of the bay are footprints of the urban decay of the metropolis, and no amount of beautification can seriously rehabilitate the landscape without a radical transformation in how urban development unfolds in the cities and municipalities surrounding it.

The justification offered is not only about aesthetics, but also about regulating people’s behavior. Officials behind the project believe that the mere sight of what they would perceive as white sand would inspire people to be more mindful of their duty to keep Manila Bay clean; that somehow it becomes a powerful cleanup reminder. They want us to believe that the beautiful sunset by the bay would not be enough of a deterrent for people to throw garbage or for some wayward soul to find a nice spot and defecate. We need the image of white sand, which actually reveals a colonial fixation on the magical effect of the color white.