AN environmental watchdog yesterday frowned over a provincial board member’s revelation that only a small portion of the wastes shipped from South Korea to Misamis Oriental would be returned to Pyeongtaek even as it questioned the Environmental Management Bureau’s failure to hold those responsible for the controversial shipments accountable.
“What is keeping the Environmental Management Bureau in Region 10 from exercising its mandate in protecting the environment and people from potential and existing hazards posed by the illegally imported wastes from Korea?” the group Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and the Environment (Pinoy Aksyon) asked rhetorically in a statement sent to this paper.
The group issued the statement after provincial board member Gerardo Sabal said only about 22 percent of the controversial shipments would likely be sent back to its port of origin in South Korea this week.
On Sunday, Sen. Aquilino Martin Pimentel III decried the shipments of wastes. “We’re not someone else’s dumping ground. The Philippines should assert its dignity and co-equal standing as a sovereign state in the community of nations. We should not be seen as a recipient, officially or unofficially, of waste material coming from other countries.”
Pinoy Akson said nothing bars the EMB from filing cases against those responsible for the illegal importation and those who received the wastes at the Phivedec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
It said, “It is a shame a small portion of the illegally imported waste will be brought back to Korea after their government through the Environmental Ministry intervened. And yet our own environmetal agency is dragging its feet on the matter.”
The group’s chairpman, Bencyrus Ellorin, rejected what it called as EMB’s “excuse” that it cannot intervene yet because the case is still with the Bureau of Customs.
Ellorin pointed out that even the customs bureau has been enjoining the EMB to come in.
The group said, “Kung gusto may paraan, kung ayaw may dahilan. Anong dahilan ng EMB?”
Ellorin also called on EMB to show the results of the toxicity test on the South Korean wastes, saying that EMB director Sabdullah Abubakar himself supposedly admitted in a meeting with environmentalists last month that the wastes were found toxic.
He said it means RA 6969 or the toxic and hazardous materials law may have been violated.
Other than the toxicity test results, Ellorin said, it has been established that the importation lacks permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Pinoy Aksyon called of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to look into what it called as “the discordant actions of EMB.”
It added that while the return of 1,400 tons of waste to South Korea would be cause for celebration, much of it would be left behind.
“These wastes may have already contaminated the environment as these were already taken out of container vans and lying in open air at the Verde Soko plant at the Phividec,” Ellorin said.
Sen. Pimentel, for his part, thanked the South Korean government for its commitment to resolve the matter and take back the misdeclared shipment.
But Pimentel said the Bureau of Customs and related agencies should file appropriate charges against those responsible for bringing in foreign trash through an illegal misdeclaration of cargo.
“Let’s ensure that this brazen act is not tolerated and in fact punished to the fullest extent of the law, particularly our Tariff and Customs Code and possibly the Toxic Substance and Hazardous Wastes and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990,” said Pimentel, adding that the repeated dumpings of foreign trash were an affront to the country’s dignity.
“If foreign-based entities and even foreign governments see and treat the Philippines as a final destination for their unwanted waste material, that speaks volumes of the way we are seen abroad. This should not be tolerated,” he said.
South Korea has committed to take back the trash after an agreement was reached at a bilateral meeting between Filipino and Korean authorities on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28 last year.
According to officials of the Mindanao International Container Port, the waste materials would commence their return trip to South Korea on tomorrow.
An initial 5,100 tons of garbage arrived at the Mindanao port in Misamis Oriental province in July last year. More waste in 51 additional containers was shipped in October and transferred to a local consignee’s compound in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
A subsequent inspection revealed that the shipment contained used dextrose tubes, soiled diapers, batteries, bulbs, and electronic equipment.
Officials said the consignee, Verde Soko Industrial Corp., had falsely reported that the container vans carried soft plastic and not garbage, claiming that the plastics were raw materials meant for furniture reprocessing.
Meanwhile, Pimentel said he would seek an update on waste materials from Canada that were dumped in the country way back in 2013.
“As far as I’m aware, as of January 2018, the matter has yet to be resolved. The Canadian Prime Minister promised to resolve the matter when he went here for the 31st Asean Summit in November 2017. There’s been no follow through ever since. We need immediate and concrete action on this,” Pimentel said.
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