Green Groups Cheer Impending Return of Canada Garbage to Its Origin
Green groups
lauded the decision by a government inter-agency committee to re-export illegal
garbage shipments to Canada as a triumph for national dignity and a victory for
environmental justice.
Last Monday, the committee, comprised of the Bureau of Customs and the
Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs and Justice,
agreed to enforce the ruling by Manila magistrate Tita Bughao-Alisuag ordering
the re-export of 50 forty-footer containers of garbage back to Canada at the
expense of Chronic Plastics, Inc., the importer.
Aileen Lucero, one of the intervenors in Criminal Case No. 14-311191 for violation
of Republic Act 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control
Act) commended the court order issued on June 30 and the decision of the
interagency committee on September 5 to implement it.
“After a relentless campaign to send the illegal garbage back to Canada, we are
finally beginning to see the fruits of our collective labor. The government’s decision to enforce the
court order is a triumph for national dignity and a victory for environmental
justice. We support it and we ask all
Filipinos to rally behind it as this is for the common good,” said Lucero who
is also the National Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, a chemical safety
and zero waste advocacy group.
“This goes to show that our justice system is still a bastion of national
sovereignty. May this send a forceful
reminder to corrupt public officials and private citizens who mean to profit
out of perpetuating the violation of our Constitution as well as national
environmental laws that our justice system is a champion of the environment as
well as the fundamental law of the land and we, environmental justice
movements, will always be its vigilant ally,” said environmentalist Raphael
Lopez, another intervenor.
Other case intervenors include the Ang Nars Party List, EcoWaste Coalition,
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Public Services Labor Independent
Confederation, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa and Arjohn
Queral.
“As it’s not over till it’s over, we vow to remain vigilant until the last garbage
container is shipped out to Canada,” Lucero emphasized, noting that the court
order covers only 50 of the 103 shipping
containers filled with residual and hazardous trash. “Our nation’s success in fulfilling the court
order will send a clear signal to unscrupulous waste traders that the
Philippines is not a global dumpsite,” she added.
In 2013-2014, a total of 103 shipping containers of largely residual household
garbage declared as scrap plastics for recycling were illegally sent to the
Philippines from Canada. In 2015, garbage
from 26 of these containers was unlawfully dumped on a private landfill in Tarlac,
infuriating provincial officials and residents.
“Local authorities and communities hosting disposal facilities can now breathe
a sigh of relief following the court order as the reeking garbage must now be
re-exported to Canada and not disposed of locally,” noted Noli Abinales,
President of Buklod Tao, which co-organized a peaceful rally versus garbage
dumping outside the Canadian Embassy last June 28.
Zero waste groups have underscored that “the disposal of the Canadian garbage
in local landfills, cement kilns and waste-to-energy facilities will be totally
wrong and unacceptable.”
"The decision of the government inter-agency is a development we have all
been waiting for. But, we should not forget that there are 53 container vans
that are not covered by this decision, and five more are still unaccounted for.
While this is no doubt a victory for the Filipino people, the fight is far from
over. Unless the Philippine government ratifies the Basel Ban Amendment, the
same incident will happen and the country will continue to be a recipient of
hazardous waste from richer countries, like Canada, under the guise of
recycling. A troubling precedent is what we aim to avoid,” said Abigail
Aguilar, Detox Campaigner, Greenpeace.
“BAN Toxics welcomes the decision of the interagency committee as a step
towards the right direction—upholding our sovereignty and protecting Filipinos
and our environment. But while it is a
good decision—kulang pa. Much more needs
to be done. The decision covers only 50 out of the total 103 containers shipped
and it took around three years for the government to decide to send the trash
back,” stated Anna Kapunan, BAN Toxics campaigns and advocacy specialist.
“The government should take urgent steps to include all the remaining
containers in the re-export, and ensure that the Philippines is protected from
further trash imports through a mechanism that doesn’t take years and a local
court case to enact. We urge the Senate
to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment to give the country immediate protection
through an international mechanism that compel countries like Canada to stop
shipping waste to poorer countries. We also urge the Filipino people to be
vigilant and ensure the order is fulfilled, the rest of the trash sent back and
that Filipino taxpayers do not shoulder the expense for the re-export of the
waste,” she said.
Comments