Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was confronted again by reporters in Manila about the issue of garbage imported from Canada four years ago during the last day of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit yesterday.
“We had legal barriers and restriction that prevented us from being able to take it back,” he was quoted as saying by GMA News.
“Those regulations and impediments have now been addressed, so it is now theoretically possible to get it back, but there are still a number of questions around: who will pay for, where the financial responsibility is, where the consequences are.”
READ: OPINION: Welcome to the Philippines, Mr. Trudeau, now take your garbage home when you leave
In 2013, Philippines customs officials found that 103 containers from Canada, which were thought to be carrying recyclable plastics, actually contained 1,300 tons of trash including adult diapers and other waste.
He said that the transaction was between two private entities and not the government of Canada.
Trudeau stopped short, however, of committing to bringing back the garbage, but said he would “continue to work on this [problem].”
Trudeau was in the Philippines for the ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit.
