MALACAÑANG has rejected Canada’s move to ship back by end of June truckloads of hazardous waste it illegally shipped to the Philippines five years ago, saying the President cannot wait that long as he wants the trash to be sent back immediately.
This, after the Canadian government announced that it has already hired shipping firm Bolloré Logistics Canada to safely bring back the waste to Canada as soon as possible.
However, the timeline given by Canada to ship the waste back completely by the end of next month did not sit well with the Palace.
“Didn’t they say it will take them [until] end of June? The President will not agree to that. And I understand from [Finance] Secretary Dominguez that the trash will be shipped back soon,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a briefing on Thursday.
Sought for clarification on when they expect the 69 waste containers to be shipped back, Panelo said: “Soonest. We don’t know what do they specifically mean with ‘soonest.’ It could be this week or a week after. Definitely not end of June. We do not want that. That is too long.”
On Wednesday, President Duterte had again expressed outrage over Canada’s “inordinate delay” in retrieving the waste, prompting him to order concerned agencies to look for a private shipping firm that will ship the waste back.
Malacañang said the Philippine government is even willing to shoulder the expenses.
Last week, the Philippine government recalled its ambassadors and consuls in Canada after Ottawa failed to comply with the May 15 deadline to take back the garbage.
Australian waste
In a related development, Malacañang said it will ask those responsible for shipping the seven waste containers now on hold in Mindanao Container Terminal in Misamis Oriental to send the waste back to Australia.
Panelo said the Philippine government is taking offense at the move, reiterating that the country should not be treated by other countries as a dump.
“It will be offensive to this government to be a recipient of trash. We are offended by that. We will not allow it,” Panelo said.
Reports said the shipment was declared as processed engineered fuel (PEF) and municipal waste which was shipped by cement company Holcim Philippines Inc.
Holcim said in the same report that it has long been using PEF as an alternative fuel in making the cement from processed waste.
The broker of the said shipment, the report stated, was the same broker responsible for the 1,000 tons of waste from South Korea from July to October 2018.
The shipment is being tested to determine whether this is PEF or just municipal waste. The result will be used as basis by the Bureau of Customs to know who should be held liable.
Panelo wondered aloud how the shipments were able to enter the Philippines, surmising that these were probably misdeclared.
If proven that these shipments were misdeclared, the Palace spokesman said, those liable should be prosecuted.
The Palace then vowed to apply the same policy of sending the waste back to its origin if other countries are also found to be doing this to the Philippines.