Palace rejects Canada's plan to take back garbage until end of June
Malacanang rejected on Thursday Canada's plan to complete the repatriation of its thrash by end of June.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Duterte administration is firm that the removal of the containers of garbage should be done as soon as possible.
"The trash will be sent back the soonest...it could be this week or a week after. Definitely not end of June," he said.
In a statement, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna said her government has awarded a contract to Bollore Logistics Canada to safely bring the waste back to Canada as soon as possible.
The company would begin preparation for shipping in the coming days and the removal would be complete by the end of June.
Panelo, on Thursday, said President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a concerned agency to look for a shipping company that would bring back the garbage to Canada.
If Ottawa would not accept the containers of thrash, he said they would be left the same within Canada's territorial waters or 12 nautical miles out to sea from the baseline of any of their country's shores.
The government initially gave Canada until May 15 to take back the garbage, which arrived in the Philippines in batches in 2013 to 2014.
Meanwhile, on reports that the Bureau of Customs has intercepted seven container vans of garbage from Australia in Misamis Oriental, Panelo said they should also be sent to where they came from.
"We are offended by that. We will not allow it. We'll send them back," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS
