(Eagle News) — Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he gave President Rodrigo Duterte his “assurance” Canada would “continue to work” on the issue of garbage originating from his country and that was still languishing in the Philippines.
But Trudeau did not specifically say the trash brought to the Asian country by 103 container vans from 2013 to 2014 would indeed be returned to Canada.
“Canada is very much engaged in finding a solution (to) that,” he instead said during a press conference on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and Other Related Meetings.
Asked whether there has been progress since the last time he gave the same assurance, or two years ago during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Manila, Trudeau said that the “Canadian regulations that prevented (it) from receiving” the garbage “have now been addressed.”
He noted that the issue in the first place “has its roots in private businesses signing contracts and having disputes.”
“Canada is very open to resolve this question,” he said.
Philippine authorities were informed the container vans which arrived in batches at the Port of Manila were carrying “plastic scraps” for recycling, but it was later found they contained household waste, including even adult diapers and non-recyclable plastics instead.
Environmental advocates said the contents of 26 container vans were “illegally” dumped at a landfill in Capas, Tarlac in 2015.
In June 2016, they said Judge Tita Bughao-Alisuag of Branch 1 of the Manila Regional Trial Court also ordered the return of 50 containers to Canada.
In making the decision, they said the judge noted that the Philippines was “not a trash bin” and that the dumping incident “should not be made a precedent for other countries to follow.”
Environmental advocates say this order has yet to be complied with.