The Philippines recalled their diplomats and embassy staff this week after Canada missed a deadline to remove their mountain of trash from the Philippines.
President Rodrigo Duterte has recalled his country’s ambassador to Canada after Ottawa failed to take back tons of rubbish it had dumped in the Philippines https://t.co/zQdSlUbRnQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2019
President Duterte promised to ship the trash back to Canada and dump some at the Canadian embassy in Manila.
A Canadian company shipped tons of trash to the Philippines in 2014 saying it was recyclable plastic.
But the containers were filled with a mountain of trash.
At midnight last night, letters for the recall of our ambassador and consuls to Canada went out. They are expected here in a day or so. Canada missed the May 15 deadline. And we shall maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in Canada until its garbage is ship bound there.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) May 15, 2019
The Globe and Mail reported:
The Philippines has escalated a dispute with Canada over tonnes of mouldering Canadian garbage sent to Manila half a decade ago, recalling its ambassador and consulate heads.
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin said Canada missed a May 15 deadline to take back the garbage, which was erroneously labelled as recyclable plastic when it was first shipped to the Southeast Asian country.
He said on Twitter that his country would maintain a “diminished diplomatic presence in Canada” until the garbage – dozens of shipping containers of trash including soiled adult diapers – is removed from his country.
Mr. Locsin also revealed it was Canada’s failure to show up at a meeting with Philippines officials that prompted Manila to raise the stakes.
He said officials “informed me that Canada did not show up at a meeting with customs and that was the trigger.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday offered no apologies for missing the deadline but said he hopes to solve this problem in the near future. He did not answer when asked why this matter has dragged on for more than five years.
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