Following reports that a second batch of illegally dumped waste from Canada has been uncovered recently at the Port of Manila, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) clarified on Monday that the information has yet to be confirmed as the shipment has not been opened.
Jay Crisostomo, head of the BOC’s Public Information and Assistance Division, told the Inquirer that Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina was “fast-tracking the issuance of a decree of [shipment] abandonment so we can open the containers.”
“For all we know, the contents [of the containers] may be legal,” he added.
He clarified that the second batch consisting of 48 containers was “not a new shipment,” adding that it arrived at the Port of Manila “more than a year ago.”
Reports said that the shipment from Canada of household waste being passed off as plastic scraps arrived in Manila in four batches between December 2013 and January 2014.
It has yet to be claimed at the Manila port by the consignee identified as Live Green Enterprise, a company based in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
The second batch arrived after 50 container vans from Canada, also carrying household waste, were shipped to the Manila port in six batches from June to August 2013. The containers have remained in the country after the Philippine government agreed to drop its demand for Ottawa to retrieve the illegal trash shipment.
Earlier, a Department of Environment and Natural Resources official said that the BOC should immediately ship back the second batch of of 48 containers as it was not covered by an importation clearance.