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LOCAL NEWS
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY February 1 - 15, 2016
Petition asks Trudeau to take back
Canadian trash dumped in Philippines
Environmentalists in
the Philippines have sent a
petition to Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, appealing for Canada to take
back the illegal garbage
that was shipped to Manila.
Called a “Citizen’s Petition,” the letter was sent to
both Trudeau’s office and
the Canadian Embassy in
Makati City on February 1.
The petitioners asked
Trudeau for the immediate return of the garbage
for “environmentally-sound
disposal in Canada”.
They also called for
payment to the Philippine
government for costs incurred.
Thirdly, the petitioners
sought the fixing of “legal
loopholes” that led to the
unlawful export of the garbage to the Philippines.
The Bureau of Customs and the Department
of Health in the Philippines
have racked up expenses
due to the stranded garbage inside 103 container
vans that accumulated in
Manila ports from 2013 to
2014.
The container vans
of trash came from Ca-
nada and were exported
by Chronic Incorporated,
based in Ontario.
Customs officials filed
a case against Philippinebased importer, Chronic
Plastics, for smuggling in
the garbage.
Lawmakers have urged
the Philippine government
to take the issue to the international arena by citing
the stranded garbage as a
violation of an international
treaty on hazardous waste –
a treaty signed by both the
Philippines and Canada.
A green group, BAN
Toxics, has sent a letter to
the Secretariat of the Basel
Convention, the body that
monitors the implementation of the treaty by countries.
Some of the garbage
has already been dumped
in a Philippine landfill.
Other container vans remain stranded in Philippine
ports.
Close to 1,500 people
signed the petition.
The petition, penned
by Aileen Lucero of green
group EcoWaste Coalition,
reminded Canada’s leader
of the statement he made
about the illegal trash during his visit to Manila for the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit
in November 2015.
“You disappointed us
when you vaguely stated
that a ‘Canadian solution’
is being developed and
made no firm declaration
to re-import your garbage,”
reads the letter.
The group also emphasized that while they support
sustainable d isposal of garbage, the Canadian trash
in question should end up
back in Canada instead of
in a Philippine dumpsite or
treatment facility.
Treatment of the waste
in the Philippines is the pre- Protesters tell Canada to take back tons of garbage illegally shipped
ferred option of the Canadi- to a port in Manila from Canada three years ago (PDI photo)
an government, according
to statements by Canadian
Ambassador Neil Reeder.
Mayors of Philippines
cities and towns with dumpsites oppose the dumping
of the Canadian garbage in
their areas of jurisdiction.
Senators and congressmen have also expressed
dismay over the continued
stay of the garbage in Philippine ports.•
- Rappler
Senator Enverga thanks Cardinal
Collins for his testimony
Ottawa
–
Today,
His
Eminence
Thomas
Cardinal
Collins, Archbishop of Toronto,
testified before the Special Joint
Committee on Physician-Assisted
Dying, which is empowered to
make recommendations on the
framework of a federal response on
physician-assisted dying after the
Supreme Court of Canada ruling
stating that the Criminal Code is a
breach of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
“I wish to thank His Eminence
for a powerful testimony before
the Committee this evening,” said
Senator Enverga in a statement after
the committee had adjourned. “As
members of the Catholic church,
we have a duty to defend life, and
to proclaim the culture of life for
the common good of society. I also
wish to congratulate His Eminence
on taking on his role as the chief
shepherd of all Catholics in the
Archdiocese of Toronto, and on
standing up to what the late Pope
John Paul II called a culture of death
leading to the creation of structures
of sin that go against life.”
“Our worth as a society will
be measured by the support we
give to the vulnerable. People
facing illness may choose to end
their lives for reasons of isolation,
discouragement, loneliness, or
poverty even though they may
have many years yet to live. What
does it say about us as a society
when the ill and the vulnerable in
our midst feel like burdens? Often,
a plea for suicide is a cry for help.
Society should respond with care
and a compassionate response to
these vulnerable people, and not
with death,” said Cardinal Collins
as part of his testimony, urging
parliamentarians to focus on
palliative care rather than allowing
physician-assisted suicide when our
healthcare system fails the weakest
in our society.•
Senator Enverga (left) and his Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, at
the committee on physician-assisted dying on Feb. 3, 2016 (C-SPAN photos)
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