MANILA, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte didn’t hide his contempt for the government officials responsible for allowing the Philippines to be Canada’s dumping ground of its garbage.
The tough-talking Mayor assured that he would have dealt with it differently if it happened in Davao City, like making these officials ‘eat the trash’ or personally oversee efforts to make sure the garbage were returned to where it came from.
“This is rudeness. Why did you allow them to dump their garbage here? Are we the garbage dump of the world?” Duterte said and went on to warn the concerned officials. “I will make you eat the trash.”
Duterte further said he wouldn’t think twice about ordering a contingent to return the garbage, which were composed of diapers and non-recyclable plastics, to its origin in Canada.
“I will rent a boat, take them and dump them into British Columbia,” the feisty mayor said.
“I can embrace the bacteria of the Filipino people but I would never, never accept a swab of blood from a foreign country,” he added.
At the groundbreaking ceremony of a public safety complex in one of the city’s district, Duterte told local media he has written a letter to the Office of the Ombudsman urging the ant-graft body to file a criminal case against the Customs officials responsible for the mess and dismiss them from the service altogether.
He also called on President Aquino to file a diplomatic protest against Canada for ‘derogating our national’ dignity by treating the Philippines as a garbage dumping ground.
“You know in a community of nations, there’s always that rule of good neighbor policy. So, if that is the spirit of the league of nations, the United Nations, the spirit that prevails should be good neighbor policy. You do not do something which is harmful, that could result to the discomfort to your neighbors,” the mayor explained.
In a statement, Duterte said he commiserates with Tarlac Vice Gov. Enrique “Kit” Cojuangco Jr. who vehemently protested against the plan to make his province the junkyard and asked for an intensive investigation to punish the culprits.
In 2013, the 55 container vans of garbage from Canada arrived to the country declared as recyclable plastics. However, the nearly 1,300 tons of cargo were seized later by Customs after the agency found out it was misdeclared after discovering the contents were purely garbage.
Last month, 26 containers were transported to Capas, Tarlac for disposal amid protest from local governments.
The Canadian government has since rejected the Philippines’ demand to return the containers saying the transaction was “private commercial matter involving a Canadian company and its Philippine partner,” which is beyond Canada’s diplomatic responsibility.