Senator Koko Pimentel III has supported the call of President Rodrigo Duterte for Canada to take back the garbage it had shipped to the Philippines years back.
“No country (no matter how poor) should be treated as a dumping ground of the waste of rich countries. Bawal yan even under international law (That is forbidden even under international law),” Pimentel said.
The legislator, meanwhile, clarified the President’s “threat to declare war” on Canada over the garbage shipment issue.
“Yung ‘declare war’ syempre exaggeration ‘yan (The war declaration, of course, it was an exaggeration) but that means that Canada must seriously act on the waste they have dumped into our country ‘coz that issue has been pending for so long,” the lawmaker said.
“Canada must seriously act on the waste they have dumped into our country because that issue has been pending for so long.”
The senator said he has already filed a bill seeking to ban the importation of solid waste into the country.
Pimentel said Senate Bill 2144, otherwise known as “An Act Banning the Importation of Solid Waste,” proposes to ban the importation of trash even by recyclers of trash located at Special Economic Zones.
By banning the importation of solid waste, the Philippines will stop being a dumping site of more advanced countries, said Pimentel.
“By banning the importation of solid waste, the Philippines will stop being a dumping site by more advanced countries.”
From 2013 to 2014, a total of 103 container vans from Canada reportedly arrived in batches at the Port of Manila. The garbage was initially declared to contain only plastic scraps. However, it was found to include non-recyclable plastics, household wastes and even used adult diapers.
The President, during a situation briefing in San Fernando, Pampanga, had threatened to set sail to Canada and return the garbage back if the Canadian government will still refuse to resolve the issue.
“I want a boat prepared. I’ll give a warning to Canada maybe next week that they better pull that thing out or I will set sail, doon sa Canada ibuhos ko ‘yang basura nila doon (in Canada and dump the trash there),” the President said.
The President added that he would no longer allow Canada to turn the Philippines into a “dumpsite”, urging it to prepare for “a grand reception” to welcome their trash back.
