adopted a resolution that will protect itself from becoming a dumping ground
for trash coming from other countries.
Through a resolution filed by District 2 Councilor Ma. Lourdes del
Rosario-Tumangan, the City Council conveyed its “strong opposition” to the
disposal of imported garbage in the Navotas Sanitary Landfill or in any part of
the city.
The councilors cited City Ordinance No. 2012-06 (the Environment Code of the
City of Navotas) and Municipal Ordinance No. 2005-06 (the Comprehensive Solid
Waste Management Ordinance of the Municipality of Navotas) in opposing foreign
waste disposal in the city.
“We congratulate Navotas City for its action to defend its right to a healthy
environment in line with existing ordinances,” said Navotas resident Romy
Hidalgo, NGO Representative to the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
Navotas City is the latest local government unit to forbid the disposal of the
botched Canadian mixed trash imports disguised as plastic scraps for recycling
after being rejected by other local government units (LGUs).
Tarlac and Bulacan provincial authorities had earlier blocked the disposal of
the illegal trash imports from Canada in local landfills. Quezon City
last Tuesday held a public hearing to discuss a resolution that will foil
any attempt to dump the smuggled trash in Payatas landfill.
“The message is clear as day that no LGU will accept the Canadian
garbage. It has nowhere to go but Canada,” he pointed out
For her part, Aileen Lucero, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, insisted
that the national government should not burden LGUs with garbage not
of its making.
“Responsible agencies should expedite the re-export of the
illegal trash imports back to Canada to put this
controversy to rest,” she said.
Between June to September 2013, 55 container vans of mixed garbage from Canada,
consigned to Chronic Plastics, entered the port of Manila and subsequently
intercepted by customs authorities. After sitting in the port for months,
26 of these garbage-filled containers were illegally dumped in a private
landfill in Capas, Tarlac between June 26 to July 8, 2015 until exposed
and stopped by the provincial board.
In May this year, customs authorities revealed the discovery of 48 more
container vans of mixed garbage from Canada, consigned to Live Green
Enterprises, bringing the total number of illegal Canadian trash shipments to
103 shipping containers.