On Oct. 21, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) discovered a suspicious shipment at the Subic Bay International Terminal. Several containers of what could potentially (most probably) be literal garbage were uncovered by the BOC.
These containers were imported from the United States and were declared as “American old corrugated cartons for repulping.” These “old cartons” were actually trash and other prohibited waste materials.
In a report published by the Inquirer, the shipping containers were on their way out of the terminal before being intercepted by Port’s District Collector, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), and the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and Assessment Division, in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
The thing is, this isn’t even the first time a foreign country shipped over their trash to rot here.
We received another illegal garbage shipment back in 2018, this time from South Korea. Over 5,000 tons of plastic waste was dumped at an industrial site in Mindanao, where they stayed for two years before being shipped back.
In 2013, we received a shipment of hundreds of containers of Canadian trash, which resulted in a six-year dispute between the Philippines and Canada. It literally took six years for them to take their garbage back.
[READ: After Manila’s diplomatic tantrum, Canada’s toxic trash leaves on May 30]
Other countries like Australia and Hong Kong have also illegally shipped trash over to the Philippines, according to Greenpeace.
For the sake of the country and the environment, let’s all just hope this is the last time this happens.
Header image courtesy of the Bureau of Customs
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