‘We will declare war’: Philippines’ Duterte gives Canada 1 week to take back garbage

OTTAWA – The president of the Philippines says if Canada doesn’t take back tonnes of trash within the next week he will “declare war” and ship the containers back himself.

READ MORE: Canada violated international law by dumping garbage in the Philippines: lawyers

Filipino media outlets are reporting that Rodrigo Duterte made threats Tuesday about dozens of shipping containers filled with Canadian household and electronic garbage that has been rotting in a port near Manila for nearly six years.

WATCH: Canadians throwing away more garbage than ever

More than 100 of the containers were shipped to Manila by a Canadian company in 2013 and 2014, improperly labelled as plastics for recycling.

Customs inspectors discovered they actually contained garbage, including soiled adult diapers and kitchen trash.

Canada has been trying for nearly six years to convince the Philippines to dispose of the garbage there even though a Filipino court ordered the trash returned to Canada in 2016.

READ MORE: Activists urge Justin Trudeau to take Canada’s trash out of Philippines

Last week a British Columbia lawyer said in a legal brief that Canada is in violation of the international Basel Convention, which forbids developed nations from sending their toxic or hazardous waste to developing nations without informed consent.