Palace okay with ‘slight delay’ in shipping out Canadian garbage

Due to documentation requirements, Canada will not be able to meet the Wednesday deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte for it to ship its illegally exported trash out of the Philippines, Malacañang said.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters that the Department of Foreign Affairs said there "might be slight delay" in the repatriation of the 69 container vans of garbage.

"Kung slight delay lang naman, the President is a very reasonable man. What is important is they will take back their waste," Panelo said, adding they expect Canada to recall the trash in one to three weeks.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said last week that the Canadian government had said it might take weeks for them to arrange the necessary documents and that they might not meet the May 15 deadline.

According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the Philippine and Canadian governments agreed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will shoulder the costs of inspection to determine the seaworthiness of the containers of waste.

Canada, meanwhile, will foot the bill for fumigation, as well as the transfer and trucking services. Panelo said Canada should also pay the storage fees.

The DOF said that the shipping lines involved in transporting the waste — Zim Line, CMA-CGM, and Maersk — have already inspected the containers, and have considered them seaworthy.

Duterte had lashed out at Canada over the the tons of household trash that were illegally exported to the Philippines in batches in 2013 and 2014.

He even threatened to go to war over the garbage now rotting in ports and a landfill, but Panelo said the President’s remark was just a figure of speech.

Panelo said Duterte ordered that the Philippines will no longer accept any waste from any country. — BM, GMA News