THE CANADIAN GARBAGE MESS (Update No. 2)
by Anton Antonio
July 31, 2015
One of my favorite mentors, Dean Inocencio E. Buot, Jr. of
the Faculty of Management and Development Studies of University of the Philippines
Open University, once said that for anyone to become a successful
environmentalist, he must be “pakialamero” and “makulit”. I used to think being such was, perhaps, not
necessary. But lately, I realized the
wisdom of his words because I find myself to be exactly the character he
described… pakialamero and makulit. But
environmental advocates and activists (like me) have to embrace these
characteristics because there really is no other way to move forward and get
things done. So here I am again writing
a blog about the Canadian garbage mess.
Rappler reported that the Department of Foreign Affairs will
be sending the Canadian Embassy another diplomatic protest, apparently the
third one, requesting “the Canadian government to take appropriate
action.” It’s quite appalling that after
two years we now come up with such a puny request. I am re-printing the news item just to keep
everyone in the loop…
“DFA TO SEND DIPLOMATIC PROTEST TO CANADA OVER ILLEGAL TRASH
Manila, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs will
file a diplomatic protest with the Canadian government reiterating its
objection to the presence of illegal Canadian trash in the country, said DFA
Spokesman Charles Jose. The statement
comes 3 days after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) asked the DFA to file such a
protest. The DFA sent a letter in reply
dated July 29, asking the two agencies for more documents to support the
diplomatic protest or note to the Canadian embassy. “As soon as we receive from DENR, BOC the
documents we requested, we will relay a 3rd diplomatic note to the
Canadian embassy to underscore the Philippine government’s position on the
issue and to reiterate our request for the Canadian government to take
appropriate action,” said Jose during a press briefing on Thursday, July
30. A diplomatic note is synonymous to a
diplomatic protest, said Jose. The
document will contain a request for the Canadian government to revisit its
export laws in order to prevent more garbage from ending up in the Philippines. A flaw in export regulations may have allowed
the trash to pass through inspections.
The DFA will also ask Canada to send documents to help Philippine courts
prosecute the two Filipino importers the garbage was being sent to. This is the 3rd diplomatic note
sent by DFA to Canada on the issue. The
first two notes relayed “the Philippine government’s request for the Canadian
government to assist with the re-exportation of the containers and we also
conveyed our objection to the presence of the containers,” said Jose. But when asked if the Philippine government
would still request Canada to take the garbage back, Jose said the BOC would be
the one to issue public statements on the matter. The Philippine government as a whole has been
hit by advocacy groups for appearing to be bullied by Canada. The western country has conveyed its wish for
the garbage to be “processed” in the Philippines. Twenty-six out of the 103 container vans of
garbage have already been emptied in a private landfill in Capas, Tarlac. Concerned citizens asked President Benigno
Aquino III to bring up the issue with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
during his visit to Canada last May.
Aquino did not do so, saying the DFA was handling the matter. When asked if economic and diplomatic
relations between the two countries was a major factor in the Philippine
government’s handling of the case, Jose said: “We are primarily pushing for our
own national interests first. That is
our primary consideration.” Perceiving
slow government action, environmentalists have asked an international body to
intervene. The Basel Convention
Secretariat facilitates the enforcement of the Basel Convention, an
international treaty to prevent hazardous waste from being transferred from
developed countries to poorer countries.
When asked why the DFA has not brought the issue to the Convention,
which both the Philippines and Canada are signatories to, Jose said that the
decision lay with the DENR. “DENR is the
focal point for the Basel Convention. They’re the agency to decide on this. They decided that we will assist,” he
said. Container vans of mixed household
waste from Canada, a total of 103 container vans have been stranded in the
Philippines since 2013. They were
misdeclared as containing recyclable plastic scraps. The Philippine government has filed charges
against the Filipino importers – Chronic Plastics and Live Green Enterprises –
for violating the countrys’ tariff and customs code and environmental
guidelines. Canadian exporter Chronic
Incorporated, owned by Jim Makris, has not yet been charged in Canada. Lawmakers in the Philippines are set to
conduct probes into the matter. An
online petition asking Prime Minister Harper to take back the garbage has
garnered 38,600 votes from all over the world. --- Rappler.com”
I could sense that the three government agencies (DFA, DENR
and BOC) are now busy covering their tracks preparatory to the Congressional
investigations. And it seems apparent
that they will play the “point system” strategy (meaning: they will be pointing
fingers at each other) to misdirect and mislead the investigations in
(possibly) both Houses of Congress.
They’re now scared out of their wits… an after effect of something they
should have solved years ago. Now they
are being haunted by the Canadian garbage mess.
Just my
little thoughts…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
and http://twitter.com/EarthCrusader.)
REFERENCE:
Rappler.com, (2015). “Diplomatic Protest Against Canada Over
Illegal Garbage”. Retrieved on July 31,
2015 from http://www.rappler.com/nation/101024-dfa-diplomatic-protest-canada-garbage?utm_content=buffer6bd40&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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