Environmental group slams Trudeau’s ‘inaction’ on Canada trash in PH

MANILA, Philippines – Like his first visit to the Philippines in 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Filipinos into frenzy during the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila. However, not everyone is amused. (READ: 4 truths about Justin Trudeau)

The EcoWaste Coalition expressed its dismay over Trudeau’s “gross indifference” to the garbage controversy that involves a 1,300-ton trash that Canada dumped to the Philippines in 2013.

When he was confronted about the issue in a media briefing on Tuesday, November 14, Trudeau said it is now possible for his country to bring back the garbage illegally shipped to the Philippines but he did not make a full commitment to remove the it out of the country.

With the “legal barriers” out of their way, Trudeau explained that it is now possible for his country to bring back the 103 container vans of trash illegally dumped in the Philippines.

He added that the Canadian and Philippine governments need to iron out and determine where the financial responsibility for the shipment of the container vans falls.

When Trudeau visited Philippines in 2015 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, he said that “there is a Canadian solution in the process of being developed.”

“Trudeau’s apathetic inaction only reinforced our belief that the ‘Canadian solution’ he spoke about in 2015 on the sidelines of the APEC Summit was nothing but an empty promise,” said EcoWaste Coalition national coordinator Aileen Lucero.

Lucero hoped the world leader’s latest response is not another empty promise.

The Canadian trash controversy was among the topics Trudeau discussed with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during their brief conversation on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

“I expressed to President Duterte the assurance of my officials here in the Philippines and back in Canada that we will continue to work on this and hopefully resolve this.” – Rappler.com