Subic: The Philippines, one of two south-east Asian countries protesting its treatment as a dumpsite by wealthier nations, has shipped back to Canada 69 containers of what its officials called illegally transported rubbish.

The rubbish was loaded overnight on the container ship M/V Bavaria, which left on a 20-day journey to Vancouver and ended a "sordid chapter in our history", said Wilma Eisma of Subic Bay Freeport.

A woman blows her whistle during a protest outside the Canadian Embassy last week. Credit:AP

Environmental activists, including those from Greenpeace and EcoWaste Coalition, welcomed the Bavaria's arrival at Subic Bay.

President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to forcibly ship back the rubbish, which officials said was transported to the Philippines in 103 containers in 2013-14, and falsely declared as recyclable plastic scraps.