Palace gives go-ahead on resuming ties with Canada

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday gave the go-ahead on Philippine officials’ communication with the Canadian government following the decision to lift the ban on official trips to Canada.

“Regular official interaction resumed as a logical consequence of the lifting of the ban,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a phone message to ����ý.

The Office of the President (OP) issued last month a memorandum banning all official trips to Canada and directing heads of government agencies to reduce official interaction with representatives of the Canadian government.

The memorandum came after the Canadian government failed to meet the May 15 deadline given by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to take back its trash dumped in the Philippines around five years ago.

In a phone message last Tuesday, Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea said the “banning of government official trips to Canada has been lifted.”

Government employees are required to secure a written travel permit from their respective agencies for foreign trips.

Mr. Panelo said the OP directives were “consistent” with the government’s stance “on the diminished diplomatic relations with Canada starting with the recall of [its] Ambassador and Consul-General in that country in light of Canada’s failure to retrieve its containers of garbage unlawfully shipped to the Philippines.”

The shipment of all 69 waste containers back to Canada pushed through last week.