Canada to pay ₱10 million for repatriation of trash – Justice chief
Canada will shoulder the cost of repatriation of the tons of trash illegally dumped to the Philippines years ago, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday.
More than 2,000 tons of garbage from the North American country, which arrived in batches in 2013 and 2014, are slated to be shipped back Thursday.
“The cost of reshipment from Manila to Vancouver, estimated at Php10 million, will be shouldered by the Canadian government. The container vans will be loaded on vessels owned by three shipping companies,” Guevarra said in a statement to reporters.
Maersk, Zim Integrated Shipping Services, and CMA-CGM Group are the shippers.
Guevarra is the Philippine government’s officer-in-charge while President Rodrigo Duterte is in Japan from May 28 to 31 for a working visit.
The Philippines already offered to pay for shipping back the waste after they failed to meet a previous May 15 deadline set by Duterte.
The President had been at odds with Canada over the garbage shipment, and even threatened to go to war if Canada does not pull the trash out of the Philippines.
Canada said all the trash will be pulled out by June 30, but Foreign Affairs Secretary “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. said the shipments are ready for deployment by May 30.
