Are there more imported garbage to come?

I refer to the report “Canadian trash ends up in President’s backyard” (Across the Nation, 7/10/15), about the garbage dumped in Capas, Tarlac.

The 98 containers in which they were brought to the country sat on a major port of entry for two years after the Bureau of Customs seized them. What was done in those two years? The shipper allegedly declared the containers to be scrap material for recycling. Thus they should be charged for false declaration. Why was this not done?

Chronic Plastics is reported to be the Philippine counterpart of the shipper, Chronic Inc., in Canada. Is Chronic Plastics a company incorporated for the sole purpose of receiving garbage from Canada?

According to the Inquirer’s report, the Department of Energy and Natural Resources has classified the garbage as “residual waste, not hazardous waste.” If this is so, then why is BOC suing Chronic Plastics for alleged violations of Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990)?

It will be interesting to know what city or place in Canada the garbage came from, and why they found it worth the effort and cost to “export” the same all the way to the Philippines?

A paragraph from the report should sound off an alert that there may be more such waste material that could end up in the Philippines. Undersecretary Jonas Leones, chief of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), is quoted as saying: “From now on, the agency will strictly implement a 30-day notice for importers to first secure an importation clearance from the EMB before the arrival of the shipment.”

—PETER CHONG, [email protected]