Activists staged a protest Tuesday morning in front of the Canadian Embassy just south of Manila calling for the removal of garbage shipped from Canada to the Philippines, an epa journalist on the scene reports.

About 25 members of the EcoWaste Coalition gathered on a concrete median in the middle of the road in front of the embassy, with many wearing gas masks and straw hats.

In addition to a large yellow protest banner they held up, the activists also carried mock shipping containers on which “Priority – Ship back to Canada” was written.

According to a press statement released today by the environmental group, illegal shipments of Canadian trash have been “rotting” in Manila and Subic Bay ports for at least two years.

The garbage reportedly consists of 103 shipping containers of household trash and scrap plastics illegally exported from Canada to the Philippines in 2013-2014, of which 26 containers were unlawfully dumped in a landfill north of Manila in 2015, sparking public anger.

A government waste study in 2014 found that most of the garbage was no longer recyclable.

The press release also states that in 2015 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the APEC Summit that a “Canadian solution” was being worked out to resolve the garbage problem.

“We reiterate our demand for PM Trudeau to take their trash back as soon as possible so we can conclude this unhappy episode in Canada-Philippines relations and move on,” said Dr. Angelina Galang, President of the Green Convergence.

EcoWaste petitioned President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on May 18 to see that the garbage is sent back to Canada within the first 100 days of his presidential term. EFE

Makati City, Philippines, Jun 28 (EFE)