By Ruben Veloria/Philippine News Agency
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — After more than six years, the illegally transported garbage from Canada has finally sailed out of the country on Friday.
“Finally, the containers of garbage transported from Canada and stored at the Subic Bay Freeport for several years now have been pulled out as of today, May 31, 2019,” said Wilma Eisma, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator, on Friday.
Eisma said a total of 69 garbage-laden containers — 67 of which have been in Subic for the past few years, and two recently brought in from Manila– were loaded into MV Bavaria, a Liberian-flagged container ship commissioned to transport the containers back to Canada.
SBMA documented the whole procedure, from the docking of the ship at Subic’s New Container Terminal (NCT)-1 on Thursday afternoon, to the loading of all the 69 containers on the same night, and up to the departure of the vessel from Subic Bay early Friday morning.
The loading of the garbage into the ship started at 9 p.m. Thursday and took until 7 a.m. on Friday. The ship then sailed out an hour later.
“We thank President Rodrigo Duterte for his decisive action that brought about a satisfactory conclusion to this sordid chapter in our history. This is one proud moment for all Filipinos,” Eisma added.
MV Bavaria arrived at NCT from Manila on Thursday at around 1:30 p.m. to load all the 69 containers of garbage that were illegally shipped to the Philippines way back in 2013 and 2014.
The containers were part of the 103 container vans of garbage brought to Manila and Subic and were labeled as recyclable materials.
Last week, the remaining 69 container vans were all gathered at the Subic’s NCT, where they were subjected to fumigation, a process in which poisonous gas is applied in the closed containers in order to disinfect or destroy any pests, insects, or bacteria that reside inside them.
The “repatriation” of the garbage is the fulfillment of the Canadian government’s commitment made last month to bring the remaining garbage back home.
Meanwhile, netizens following the news about the garbage pull-out on social media, expressed joy over the triumphant struggle against dumping of foreign trash in the country while others lauded President Duterte for his firmness in taking the “imported” garbage out of the Philippines.
SBMA employee Maria Preciosa Ignacio, who was happily watching the cargo ship Bavaria while sailing off Subic commented, “finally leaving the Port of Subic. Canadian waste back to where you belong”.
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