Trudeau vows anew to resolve ‘irritant’ garbage issue

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday vowed anew that his government is committed to "finding a solution" on the issue of garbage that was dumped by Canadian companies in the Philippines years ago.

In his media briefing at the International Media Center, Trudeau said he and President Rodrigo Duterte talked about the "garbage issue" before the ASEAN-Canada 40th Anniversary Commemorative Summit held in Manila.

"We discussed the garbage issue, which I know has been a long-standing irritant," Trudeau told the press. "Canada is very much engaged in finding a solution on the matter."

Trudeau said it is already "theoretically possible" to take back the trash dumped in 2013, but the government has yet to determine who will shoulder the financial responsibility.

2015 promise

During a press conference back in 2015 at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) hosted by the Philippines, Trudeau committed to solve the same problem.

Trudeau said that one of the barriers then was Canadian legal regulations, which "prevented us from being able to receive the waste back in Canada."

"Those regulations and those impediments have now been addressed; so it is now theoretically possible to get it back but there are still a number of questions that who will pay for, where the financial responsibility is, what the consequences are," he said, noting that the "transactions did not involve governments."

"We continue to work on this and hopefully resolve this situation," Trudeau said.

Environment activist Greenpeace on Monday urged Trudeau to take back the garbage dumped in 2013.

"On social media, we can see that Filipinos from all fronts are asking if Trudeau has any plans to take back their waste, which has been a festering issue since 2013. And that is exactly our sentiment," said Abigail Aguilar, campaigner of the environment group in Southeast Asia, in a statement.

"His PR antic cannot cover the stinking Canadian waste issue as long as it is left rotting on our ports," Aguilar added.

Twenty-six of the 50 container vans of mixed waste material shipped from Canada in 2013 were disposed at the Metro Clark landfill in Capas, Tarlac, between June 26 to July 8, 2015.

'Empty promise'

For its part, environmental group Ecowaste Coalition saidn Trudeau's promise to find a solution for the garbage issue was an "empty promise."

In an interview on Balitanghali, Aileen Lucero from Ecowaste Coalition said that Trudeau had simply wanted to deflect the public's attention from the issue.

"Tingin ng Ecowaste Coalition na 'yung nangyari nung 2015 na APEC Summit sideline ay ngayon dahil nandito pa yung basura sa Pilipinas ay empty promises. Ang Canadian solution na binabanggit ni Prime Minister Trudeau nung 2015 ay isang panakip butas para mawala sa publiko yung isyu," she said.

Trudeau, in the Philippines as part of the ongoing ASEAN Summit, said in 2015 that a “Canadian solution” was being developed to solve the issue on the trash brought to the country.

"Pinangako nila na they would look into a Canadian solution para ma-solve itong problem na ito. 'Yun yung after two years walang nangyari. Wala tayong nakita na Canadian solution at two years nang nakatengga yung mga basura na galing sa Canada at nabubulok sa Port Area sa Manila," Lucero said.

She stressed that even if it were a private company that is responsible for the wastes, the Canadian government should be involved because Canada and the Philippines are both signatories in the Basel Convention, an international treaty that aims to prevent hazardous waste from being transferred from developed countries to poorer countries.

"Signatory ang Pilipinas at ang Canada sa Basel Convention kung saan pinagbabawal ang basura na ganito na i-import sa ibang bansa. Kaya gusto natin na makialam na ang bansang Canada," Lucero said. —with Jessica Bartolome/KBK, GMA News