Santiago dips toes into smelly affair

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

It seems the stench just won’t go away.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a Senate resolution asking the government to invoke an international agreement that would force Canada to take back 50 container vans of trash, after the Philippine government had earlier ruled out sending the waste back to Canada.

The resolution expressed the sense of the Senate that the government should cite the Basel Convention to force Canada to take back the garbage that was exported from its shores to the Philippines.

“This issue goes beyond waste management and threatens our sovereignty. I am alarmed that the government seems willing to say that we are an international trash bin out of fear of ruffling Canada’s feathers,” said Santiago, who is chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations.

On May 7, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Canada had no obligation to take the trash back since the transaction that brought them here in 2013 was purely commercial and not between governments.

The Philippine government has charged the importer of the 40-ft container vans—Chronic Plastics—with violation of Republic Act No. 6969, the Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste, and violation of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines for illegal importation.

In a statement, Santiago said a multigovernment agency had reportedly agreed to process the waste locally.

On Saturday, Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder said a solution had been found to dispose of the trash.

“We found a local solution. Both governments are going to work toward having the garbage treated locally and in a sustainable manner and that case will be closed,” Reeder said in an interview.

He said that contrary to reports, there was “nothing toxic” about the waste.

He also said Canada did not have the means “to force the shipper by law to take the waste back to Canada.”

But for Santiago, “the decision to process the waste in the Philippines upon the request of the Canadian government sets a dangerous precedent for other countries to dump their waste on Philippine soil with impunity.”

She cited Article 9(2) of the Basel Convention: “In case of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes deemed to be illegal traffic as a result of the conduct on the part of the exporter or generator, the state of export shall ensure that the waste in question are (a) taken back by the exporter of the generator, if necessary, by itself into the state of export, or, if impracticable, (b) are otherwise disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this Convention within 30 days from the state of export having been informed of the illegal traffic or such other period of time as the states concerned may agree. To this end, the parties concerned shall not oppose, hinder or prevent the return of the waste to the state of export…”–With a report from Kristine Felisse Mangunay