President Rodrigo Duterte relies on “good faith” in regard to the promise of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take back the shipping containers of mixed waste material that was brought to the Philippines.
In an interview with dzMM on Wednesday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that Trudeau had a small talk with Duterte about the garbage issue, before the start of the ASEAN-Canadian dialogue
According to the spokesman, the Canadian prime Minister told the Philippine President that he would sent the trash back to Canada.
Roque said that Duterte had a short reply since there was not much time to discuss the trash issue in detail.
“Well, alam n’yo naman po si Presidente, nagre-rely po iyan sa principles of good faith. Kung sinabi ng Canada na ipapabalik nila ang basura nila, eh inaasahan naman ni Presidente na gagawin nga iyan ni Prime Minister Trudeau [You know, the President relies on the principles of good faith. If Canada says they will take back their garbage, the President is counting on Prime Minister Trudeau to do that],” Roque said in a radio interview.
Roque stressed that this is the same behavior Duterte adopted as he dealt with China on Scarborough Shoal.
“Sabi ng Canada pababalikin niya iyong mga basura nila. Asahan natin magkaroon sila ng tinatawag na mga—asahan natin sila ay mga men of honor ‘no. At sa tingin ko naman ay baka gawin nila [Canada says they will send their trash back. Let’s hope that they are men of honor. And I think that they might do it],” the Spokesperson said.
About 103 shipping containers of 2450 tons of trash from Chronic Incorporated, a plastic exporter in Ontario, were sent to the Philippines between 2013 to 2014.
These container vans were supposed to carry recyclable plastics from Vancouver. However, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) found out that those containers were actually filled with wastes like used adult diapers and household trash.
In his press briefing, Trudeau said that it is now “theoretically possible” to take the garbage back. He said that Canada is very open to working with the Philippine government and that his country is working hard to find a solution on the issue.