PHL govt to dump Canada trash in Tarlac sanitary landfill

The Philippine government has decided to dump tons of waste shipped from Canada years ago in a sanitary landfill in Tarlac. 

 

"Eh baka kasi maka-create pa iyan ng hazards later on. Eh di ibaon natin. Iyon naman purpose ng landfill... Iyon naman ang purpose ng landfill eh," Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said in a report on GMA-7's "24 Oras" on Monday. 

 

The 50 container vans of mixed waste material arrived at the Port of Manila starting June 2013 and were intercepted by the Bureau of Customs. They were misdeclared by Canadian exporter Chronic Inc. as "assorted scrap plastic materials for recycling." 

 

This year, another 48 container vans of waste arrived in the country. 

 

The Philippine government did not press Canada to take back its waste considering the good relationship between the countries.  

 

The trash were also not toxic, according to the Environmental Management Bureau.  

 

"Madali naman sabihin na ibalik. Pero ang point niyan, iyong cost of return? If you charge Canada para sa mga expenses na ito, how about [if] Canada will not allow it? So 'di court? Litigation talaga tayo," said Department of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Jonas Leones. 

 

However, environmental organization BAN Toxics said the government is making a mistake. 

 

The group said that Canada violated the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal for not taking back the container vans full of trash. Canada is one of the signatories. 

 

BAN Toxics also claimed that Canada owes the Philippines storage fees and penalties. 

 

"Walang nagko-call from our national government na ibalik ang basura sa Canada. Noong nag-state visit si President Aquino, hindi iyon pinag-usapan. Hindi natin narinig ang [Department of Foreign Affairs]. Ang DFA ang unang dapat namumuno na magtatawag sa gobyerno ng Canada na ibalik iyong basura nila based on Basel Convention," said BAN Toxics' Chemicals Management Coordinator Anna Kapunan. 

 

But the Foreign Affairs department said that there is no law stating Canada should take back its trash.

 

"There is no law that can compel us, that can compel the local importer to re-export the containers," DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said. 

 

BAN Toxics is looking into the legal actions the group can take against the government's decision. 

 

"They can take legal actions to what they want," Lina retorted. — Trisha Macas/JDS, GMA News