Palace: Ban on gov’t trips to Canada to be lifted once garbage issue is resolved

Malacañang on Monday said the ban on government trips to Canada will be lifted once the tons of garbage that were illegally exported to the Philippines are shipped back to the North American country.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo gave the statement after the Palace issued the travel restrictions following Canada’s failure to meet the May 15 deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte for it to take back the trash.

"Hopefully I think yes, if there is no more reason to be pissed off by their actions," Panelo said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

Panelo added the travel ban was made “to show the Canadian government that we are serious” on the issue of retrieval of the 69 container vans of garbage that arrived in the Philippines in 2013 and 2014.

It was Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea who issued the memorandum directing all department secretaries and heads of agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, and government financial institutions to refrain from issuing travel authorities for official trips to Canada.

Signed by Medialdea on May 20, the memorandum also ordered heads of government agencies to reduce official interaction with representatives of the Canadian government. The memo took effect immediately.

“We maintain that these directives are consistent with our stance on the diminished diplomatic relations with Canada starting with the recall of our Ambassador and Consul-General in that country in light of Canada's failure to retrieve its containers of garbage unlawfully shipped to the Philippines,” Panelo said on Sunday.

Last week, Duterte ordered government agencies to find a shipping company that would bring back the garbage to Canada.  — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News