EcoWaste Coalition Files FOI Request to Know How Some of the Canadian Wastes Were Disposed Of Locally
The environmental health and justice group EcoWaste
Coalition has filed a request under the government’s Freedom of Information
program to obtain facts related to the local disposal of eight of the 103
containers of illegal garbage shipments from Canada.
Aileen Lucero, the group’s national coordinator,
yesterday filed the request with tracking no: #BOC-661823304998 after getting a
confirmation from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that 34 of the 103 containers
have already been disposed of locally, and only 69 containers will be shipped
back to Canada.
BOC Spokesperson Atty. Erastus Sandino Austria told the
EcoWaste Coalition that 67 of the remaining containers are sitting at the Subic
Bay International Terminal Corporation (SBITC) and the other two are at the
Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
To recall, wastes from 26 of the 103 containers were
unloaded between June-July 2015 at the landfill operated by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp.
(MCWMC) in Kalangitan, Capas, Tarlac
until the provincial government halted it.
MCWMC complied with the provincial order stopping further
disposal of wastes from Canada and returned to the BOC the eight containers
that arrived in the facility while the content of the 26 containers were being
unloaded.
To stop foreign waste disposal in the province, the
Tarlac Provincial Board adopted Resolution No. 057-2015 banning the dumping of
any garbage from overseas at the Kalangitan landfill and anywhere in Tarlac.
“We are really curious as to where the wastes from the
eight containers went after top officials of Tarlac, as well as Bulacan,
objected to the dumping of Canadian wastes in landfills operating in their
provinces. Were they buried or, God
forbid, burned ?,” asked Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste
Coalition.
“We therefore request
the BOC, in line with Executive Order 2, series of 2016, to disclose
records pertaining to the local disposal of the eight containers of Canadian
garbage. Full disclosure of the
information will help clear the air. The
people have the right to know,” she said.
EO 2, s. 2016, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on
July 3, 2016, is the enabling order that operationalizes the Freedom of
Information in the Executive Branch of the government in line with the state
policies to full disclosure and transparency in public service.
-end-
Reference:
https://www.foi.gov.ph/requests/aglzfmVmb2ktcGhyHQsSB0NvbnRlbnQiEEJPQy02NjE4MjMzMDQ5OTgM
https://www.foi.gov.ph/help
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