Filipinos urge PM to take out trash
MANILA, Philippines — Justin Trudeau’s visit to the Philippines brought him within a short walk of a Canadian controversy that has lingered in the Port of Manila for years: about 100 stranded containers crammed with thousands of tons of rotting trash from Canada.
The case of the rancid Canadian garbage, festering in Manila for about four years, is well known in the Philippines — it has made headlines and led to protests by environmental and public-health activists.
They’ve been calling on Canada to repatriate the waste, which is said to include old wires, CDs, used plastic cups and soiled adult diapers. Estimates in local news reports say there could be as much as 2,270 tonnes of trash in 103 shipping containers.
The shipments were allowed into the country because they were allegedly disguised as recyclable plastics. Upon inspection, however, customs officers discovered they were stuffed with reeking household trash — or worthless landfill junk.
The customs bureau warned the material could be hazardous and impounded the shipment.
During a visit to Manila two years ago, Trudeau was asked by a local reporter about the Canadian garbage. He replied at the time that a “Canadian solution” was in the works and he vowed to make legislative changes to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
“It’s two years already and the waste still remains here,” said Aileen Lucero, national co-ordinator of Manila’s EcoWaste Coalition, one of many groups that have been fighting for the removal of the rubbish.
Francisco Fernandez, the deputy chief of mission at the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, said the case is still before the courts in the Philippines, but officials from both countries are working to find a solution.