Canada trash all set for re-exportation

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Wednesday said the trash from Canada shipped to the Philippines was "all set" for its scheduled re-exportation on Thursday (May 30).

According to Jun Veneracion's report for "24 Oras" on Wednesday, all 69 containers of the garbage at the Subic International Terminal Corporation were ready.

The latest update from the SBMA said a vessel called MV Bavaria set to take the trash back to Canada is scheduled to arrive Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and  will sail by 3 p.m.

"Everything is all set. Sana nga ito ang araw na pag-alis ng mga basurang ito,"  SBMA chairperson and administrator Wilma Eisma said.   

"Napakahalaga po nito unang-una para sa ating bansa. Ito ay nagpapakita na political will is really very important," she added. 

A copy of the actual re-exportation order was obtained by GMA News.

The key legal document specifies that the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has conducted a waste analysis and characterization study on the shipment and found it as "municipal solid waste."

It also says the "ownership of the shipment is hereby ceded to the Canadian government who shall oversee that the same are returned to the country of origin, Canada, with dispatch."

The tons of garbage from Canada were exported to the Philippines in batches in 2013 and 2014.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who visited Manila in 2017 for the ASEAN Summit, had said legal barriers have prevented Canada from taking back the trash since the company which sent the trash to the Philippines is a private company.

The diplomatic issue heated up last month when President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to declare war against Canada if the latter would not take it back.

Several ranking Philippine officials in Canada had been recalled after the said country missed the May 15 deadline to get back its trash.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. announced on Twitter that the trash will be sent back to Canada on Thursday, May 30. —Margaret Claire Layug/LDF, GMA News