What Is The Canada-Philippines Dispute On Garbage About?

The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to ship 2500 tons of trash back to Canada and dump some at the country's embassy at Manila. The waste was sent illegally by a Canadian company to a port near the Philippine capital city.

In 2013- 2014, 100 shipping containers were sent to the port labelled as plastic for recycling. The Filipino customs officials later found the containers holding garbage with items like dirty diapers and household waste.

The Philippines is preparing to ship back 69 containers of Canadian garbage by May 15. Duterte, last Tuesday, threatened to declare a war against Canada if they don’t take back their garbage in a week. He said "give a warning to Canada maybe next week that they better pull that thing out or I will set sail,” reported Fox News.

Soon after Duterte’s threats, the Canadian Environmental Minister Catherine McKenna announced that the Canadian government will be looking for a proper solution to get rid of the garbage in the following weeks.

According to the latest news release by the Philippine Department of Finance, Ottawa has agreed to receive their waste back and cover all the necessary expenses. A Canada spokesperson for Global Affairs confirmed to CTV News that Canada has agreed to cover all the expenses for the re- export, but did not give more information.

The Philippines Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, said all the necessary requirements and preparations for the re-export of waste has been met by the Philippines Government but the Canadian Officials have reportedly said that it would take them weeks to make the necessary arrangements, which is why the Filipino Government has give a deadline of May 15.

Guerrero said that a series of meetings were held from April 30 to May 6 between the Philippine Intelligence Agency Committee (IAC) and representatives from the Canadian government. They even conducted inspections of the containers housing the trash both at the Manila International Airport(MICP) and the Port of Subic (POS).

The Philippine government, through IAC, is ready with necessary documents for the re-export of the garbage. The shipping lines tasked to transport the trash have already taken their seaworthiness check on the containers to make sure that the containers will be returned to Canada.