Duterte ‘war’ threat vs Canada just ‘figure of speech’ — Lorenzana

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat of “war” against Canada for supposedly dumping their garbage in the Philippines was only a “figure of speech,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

“It’s a figure of speech meant to dramatize his extreme displeasure. But if it were me, I would run after the importer of those garbage,” he told reporters on Wednesday night.

Earlier this week, Duterte warned of war if Canada won’t take back its trash which was shipped in batches to Manila almost six years ago.

“Yung basura ng Canada, I want a boat prepared. I’ll give a warning to Canada maybe next week that they better pull that thing out or I will set sail doon sa Canada, ibuhos ko yang basura nila doon,” he said.

“Eh di ano? Awayin natin ang Canada. We’ll declare war against them, kaya man natin sila. Isauli ko talaga, tingnan mo,” he added.

The Canadian Embassy in Manila said it was “strongly committed to collaborating with the government of the Philippines to resolve this issue.”

“A joint technical working group, consisting of officials from both countries, is examining the full spectrum of issues related to the removal of the waste with a view to a timely resolution,” it also said.

From 2013 to 2014, the Bureau of Customs intercepted a total of 103 shipping containers loaded with mixed garbage from Canada declared as “recyclable scrap plastics.” /je