After Canada and the Philippines resolved a garbage row that dragged on for years, the Canadian ambassador to Manila said the potential to expand the bilateral relations going forward is “limitless.”
Hailing the “tremendous cooperation” between Canada and the Philippines that led to the timely resolution of the problem, Ambassador John Holmes believes the relations of the two countries are “only going to get better.”
“We got the job done and my message coming out of that issue is that if our two countries can continue to work collaboratively as we did in resolving this matter, imagine what we can do to enhance our trade, our investment, our people-to-people context. The opportunities are limitless and we really want to build on that,” Holmes told journalists at the Canada Day reception in Makati City Monday night.
On the weekend, the ship carrying tons of waste that were left to rot in the Philippines for six years and sparked a diplomatic dispute had arrived in Canada.
The garbage issue had been the most intense diplomatic conflict between the two countries in recent years, prompting Manila to recall its top envoys in Canada.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued an ultimatum to Canada to take back its trash on May 15 or he will have it shipped and dumped in Canadian waters if it will refuse to accept it.
A Canadian export company shipped the trash to the Philippines for recycling in 2013.
Holmes said it is now up to the Philippines to go after the company that sent the garbage and to hold them accountable for their action.
“The Canadian company at the time exported legally, so there are no legal issues in Canada,” he said, adding a plan to file charges against the export firm is being considered by the Philippine government according to Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
“I think publicly and tweeting, he said that’s the plan. I think that was one of the challenges that we had, there were court cases and court orders that we had to figure out how to work through and respect. One of them is the legal responsibility, that’s not a Canadian issue,” said Holmes.
Moving forward, the envoy said the Philippines and Canada are seeking to bolster ties in agriculture, transportation, and information and communications technology.
“These are the areas we are very interested and I think a lot of scope for partnerships in that,” Holmes said.
