Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) — Over 5,000 tons of trash illegally dumped in the country last year will finally be shipped back to South Korea soon, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.
The garbage, which was supposed to be repatriated last January, “will soon be balled and compacted to prepare them for shipment back to South Korea,” the DOF statement read, quoting Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero’s report to Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez. No specific date was mentioned.
It added that the South Korean government had committed to help pay the shipment cost.
“The Korean government has expressed its commitment in collaborating with the Philippine government to execute the repatriation of these materials should Verde Soko fail to follow the Notice of Repatriation Order which it issued, and its willingness to shoulder the shipping cost without the arrastre and demurrage charges,” Guerrero said.
The garbage was part of some 6,500 tons of waste illegally shipped to the Philippines in July and October 2018. The consignee, Cebu-based Verde Soko Industrial Corporation, initially declared the shipment as soft plastics, but authorities said there were illegal and hazardous waste materials such as used intravenous lines, light bulbs, and old batteries.
Around 1,400 tons of the trash were already returned to South Korea in January, and authorities then said the remaining 5,100 would be shipped back the same month. This did not happen as the garbage remained at the Verde Soko compound within the Phividec Industrial Authority premises in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental, according to the DOF.
The government is also waiting for Canada to take back over 2,000 tons of garbage it had shipped to the Philippines in 2013. The Department of Foreign Affairs recalled the country’s ambassador and consuls from Canada which missed the May 15 deadline to remove the unwanted trash.
