Garbage

President Duterte often uses sarcasm/ irony/ exaggeration and humor when he talks.

this is cultural: using humor to defuse anger.

the problem? Then the press "quotes" part of what he said, out of context, and the SJW, including their minions in the rich Manila SJW community (i.e. rich families whose kids go to college) go ballistic.

the latest Duterte feud is that he threatened to declare war on Canada if they didn't take back their garbage.

Ah, but if you watch the first five minutes of this film you notice everyone is laughing at Duterte.





and this next clip from Canada spins the story saying it is a private matter, and insists that the feud was started because Duterte (whose approval rating is only 70%+) only made it a political stunt to have his candidates win the election.

Actually, he is sending a message to locals about how he is cracking down on corruption (and if you vote for congressmen who back him, hey he might get more bums thrown out of office).

This Candian version of the feud shows how they are completely clueless about the Philippines and the backstory of corruption:



the (anti Duterte news site) Rappler has a time line and if you scroll down you find this...

The Office of the Ombudsman orders the suspension of DENR Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna in connection with the shipment. The Ombudsman finds Cuna guilty of simple misconduct and orders his suspension, without pay, for 3 months. The Ombudsman discovers that Cuna “acted with gross inexcusable negligence when he issued a Registry Certificate in favor of Chronic Plastics despite the insufficient details in its Importer Registry Sheet.”

no, there is no proof he was bribed to approve of the shipment without knowing what was in it.

 but it is an open secret that smugging goes on all the time: everything from rice to onions (which devastates our local onion farmers) to drugs to dangerous stuff. And it is common knowledge that often a small gift will get your paperwork approved (or get the local cops to look the other way if you want to avoid paperwork).

as a local wag put it: In the Philippines, bribes are taken under the table, over the table, and with the table.

BusinessAntiCorruptionPortal article:

we do have lots of laws about these things: 

The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act criminalizes active and passive bribery, extortion, abuse of office and conflicts of interest. Giving gifts, except for gifts of insignificant value given in line with local customs, is prohibited.

 but then there is the reality:

Facilitation payments are not addressed by anti-corruption regulations and private sector bribery is not criminalized. The legislative framework for fighting corruption is scattered and is not effectively enforced by the weak and non-cooperative law enforcement agencies.

translation: The laws are there on paper, but a small gift will delay and delay the court prosecution until it disappears on it's own.

Recycling plastic is one of these scams. And quite a few countries are dumping it here to "recycle":

From the Manila Bulletin: (the pro business news paper here).

A Quezon City based environmental organization has pushed the government to take drastic actions against the entry of the erroneously declared plastic trash from South Korea that entered the country, an incident similar to the still unresolved Canadian garbage dumping controversy...

The EcoWaste Coalition feared that the Philippines may eventually turn into a dumping ground of other country’s garbage if the government fails to resolve the issue at the soonest possible time. 

Yes, there are companies here that process and recycle plastic waste.

so yes, recycling plastic could be a good business to produce jobs in the Philippines

but a lot of plastic waste ends up on the oceans: and this is not just local waste that is carelessly discarded, but I suspect a lot of the imported western waste that is sent here to be recycled is also merely dumped in landfills or into the ocean because it is cheaper than recycling it.

this article (CNNPHIL) is about Malaysia, and goes into details of how "hard to recycle" plastic sent there to recycle ends up in landfills, ravines, or the ocean.

but a lot of the plastic pollution is local, due to lack of garbage/trash pickup: Stuff simply gets dumped into the local irrigation canal or sewers/drainage ditches.

And this article (SCMP) discusses why so much of the plastic waste in the Ocean comes from the Philippines: and they blame "sachets":

Before such sachets were introduced, Filipinos followed “tingi” culture, Hernandez recalls. Shoppers took their own reusable containers to their neighbourhood sari-sari convenience store when they bought small servings of vinegar, soy sauce and other condiments. The laminated sachets are used for everything ranging from shampoo, toothpaste, creams and soaps to crackers, nuts and other foodstuffs.

Ah but this ignores the fact that in the past, people were too poor to buy some of these things: Now they are less poor, and can buy "luxuries" in small amounts.

For example, if you are paid 6 dollars a day (300 peso minimum wage) paying 150 pesos for a large bottle of shampoo etc. takes a big bite out of your money supply, but you can probably splurge on a sachet (5 pesos) now and then.

And when the humidity is 90percent, the powdered soap, snack foods, and things like "3 in 1" coffee remains fresh and not in a solid lump.

the result? More plastic stuff to throw away.




Recycling has been started in Manila of course.  

But not so much outside of Manila:


A lot of rural towns and villages have little or no trash collection, so people throw it into the open ditch sewers or irrigation canals, or in the local vacant lot, where it attracted rats, and feral dogs and cats.. until the smell got too bad and someone would go out and burn it.

But now we have containers for those passing by to throw their trash on the way home from the palenke/ city plaza/ stores downtown. Our reform mayor does have people collecting garbage, so the streets are cleaner. We still have plastic food wrappers etc. on the street (some from careless people, others beause feral dogs still get into the trash) but it's improving.

And as I have noted: We are now being given paper bags instead of plastic bags when we shop. And the paper bags not only can be burned, but tend to disintegrate in water, which is bad if you are carrying groceries home during the monsoon season, but hey, they won't block the sewers and cause floods like Plastic bags did.