The Bureau of Customs returned to South Korea some 2,676 metric tons of waste materials that were stored at the PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority premises in Misamis Oriental since 2018.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III the volume was part of the 5,176.91 MT that South Korean government officials committed to help ship back to their country after these were illegally exported to the Philippines in July 2018.
The waste materials consist of plastic synthetic flakes that were unlawfully imported by the Cebu-based Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp.
Guerrero said the garbage was shipped back in 151 forty-footer containers. The first batch of 51 containers was re-exported to Korea on Jan. 25, 2019. It followed by another shipment of 50 containers on Jan. 15 this year. A third batch consisting of 50 containers was shipped to Korea on March 21.
“The re-exportation took some time because the wastes have been exposed to natural elements of heat and rain, which made it difficult to re-bag and stuff inside the containers,” Guerrero told Dominguez.