MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Saturday he is studying the possibility of withdrawing Philippine labor attachés in Canada amid tensions after Ottawa missed a deadline to take back dozens of shipping containers full of trash.
The labor chief’s statement came after the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, in an unprecedented move, recalled the country’s ambassador and consuls to Canada, setting a stage for a “diminished diplomatic presence” there “until its garbage is shipbound there.”
"Kung hindi gaganda ang panahon sa pagitan ng ating bansa at Canada, baka ako rin ay magde-decide na ire-recall natin ang ating labor attaché, yung namamahala sa ating POLO [Philippine Overseas Labor Office] office doon sa Vancouver at saka Toronto," Bello said in an interview with dzBB radio.
(If our relationship with Canada won’t improve, I might decide to recall our labor attaché, those heading our POLO office in Vancouver and Toronto.)
“Pero pinag-aaralan nating mabuti,” he added.
(But we’re still studying this plan.)
In a statement, Brittany Fletcher, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson, said “Canada is disappointed by this decision to recall the Philippines ambassador and consuls general.”
Manila had repeatedly filed diplomatic protests with Ottawa over the containers of trash shipped to the Philippines in batches beginning in 2013. The Canadian government has maintained it had no hand in the shipment, saying it was a commercial transaction.
Early this month, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to sail to Canada and “dump their garbage there.” In response, the Canadian Embassy in Manila vowed to work with the Philippines in ensuring that the waste shipment will be "processed in an environmentally responsible way."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on May 1 tweeted that the waste sent to the Philippines six years ago would be shipped back to Canada in 15 days.
Malacañang earlier warned that Canada's disposal of garbage to the Philippines is "dangerously disruptive of our bilateral relations."
In the same radio interview on Saturday, Bello said Filipino expats working in Canada are insulated from the issue. Reports peg the number of Filipinos living and working in Canada at over 800,000. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral with a report from Patricia Lourdes Viray