‘To decongest Manila port, send back trash, diaper cargo to Canada’

MANILA, Philippines–Looking for a quick way to ease congestion at the Port of Manila? An environmental group has proposed a solution: Send back to Canada 50 freight containers of toxic waste shipped by an Ontario-based company to its consignee in Valenzuela City last year.

According to a statement released by EcoWaste Coalition, the removal of the 50 containers would free up space roughly the size of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.

“Returning the toxic shipment to the sender will [also] help bring the controversy to a close and see the triumph of environmental justice,” EcoWaste coordinator Aileen Lucero said.

The shipment was intercepted at the Port of Manila in January after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) discovered that it contained waste materials, including adult diapers and household waste, instead of “scrap plastic materials for recycling.”

The BOC said that Canada was under obligation to take back the shipment under the 1995 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal which states that “the exporting country must take back the waste materials if the receiving country refuses to accept them.”

Lucero said that EcoWaste, along with other environmental organizations like Greenpeace, Ban Toxics! and Ang Nars party-list group, had also urged the Canadian Embassy to pull out the containers. In addition, Change.org, a global petition platform, launched a signature campaign in support of the move.

In response, the Canadian Embassy said that it was looking into the matter which it hoped to resolve immediately.

“Importing hazardous trash in the guise of recycling is…a direct affront to our nation’s dignity, health and sovereignty,” Lucero said.

Sought for comment, customs bureau spokesperson Charo Logarta Lagamon said that the BOC had already done its part which was “to seize and take custody of [the shipment].”

“The problem is that those in charge of coordinating with Canada are the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs]. They haven’t gotten in touch with us yet,” she added.

“Our proposal is to just dispose of this here. But we need to be given the legal backing for us to do so. The ball is not in our court,” Lagamon told the Inquirer.–With Paolo Montecillo, Inquirer Business