‘Green’ advocates back PH call on toxic waste

MANILA, Philippines–Environmental advocates from 30 countries and territories around the world have backed the call of a local environmental group for the Canadian government to take back the 50 containers shipped to Manila earlier this year which turned out to contain garbage, including items possibly hazardous to health.

The EcoWaste Coalition said in a statement that 63 environmentalists from 30 countries around the world signed a solidarity statement to declare their unity with the Philippines in its call for “Canada to take back its garbage without further delay.”

The statement was signed at a global civil society meeting in Kunming, China. The signatories were from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and the United States.

The signatories said that the containers, the contents of which were declared as plastic scraps but were discovered by the Bureau of Customs to be mixed garbage like soiled adult diapers, among others, were shipped in violation not only of local laws, but also an international convention ratified by Manila and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that a government inter-agency led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was on top of the matter.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said that the case of the Canadian shipment was a “commercial transaction between a Philippine importer and a Canadian exporter, a transaction that may have violated Philippine laws.”

Jose said that a case had been filed against the importer with the Department of Justice for preliminary investigation.

“While the legal case runs its course, the practical problems arising from the presence of these unwanted containers at the port are being dealt with through an inter-agency effort,” he told the Inquirer in a text message.