President Rodrigo Duterte wasn’t joking when he said he was ready to declare war on Canada over the latter’s illegally dumped garbage in the Philippines.

Duterte said yesterday at a public speech in his hometown of Davao City that he was serious about his threats against Canada — and he wanted to clarify: though the media labeled his statements as nothing but hot air, he was actually prepared to take action.

Speaking to the crowd at the event, he said in a mix of English and Filipino: “That trash, it’s a matter of respect. You’re making us into a dump site? Son of a b*tch. They thought I was joking [when] I said ‘Take that back. If we don’t come to an understanding, I will declare war.’ The media thinks it’s just braggadocio, arrogance, hubris.”

But, Duterte went on to explain, it wasn’t. He said that he had considered calling the Philippine Navy so that they could deliver the trash to Canada if the North American country didn’t take it back. “[I would have told the Navy] ‘Load that garbage, let’s go to Canada, then dump them on their beach,'” Duterte said.

“Of course the [Canadian] Navy and police will start to arrest my navy men. A gunfight might have happened [if the Philippine Navy went to Canada]. If there was a gunfight, we would have declared war [against Canada because] I will not allow them to treat us that way,” said the president.

Duterte first said he wanted to declare war against Canada back in April when he publicly expressed frustration that the latter’s illegally garbage was still in the Philippines years after it was dumped.

The controversial garbage first arrived in the country between 2013 and 2014, when an Ontario-based company called Chronic Inc. wrongly declared the contents of the containers as recyclable materials. As many as 103 containers which contained waste such as plastic bottles, bags, and even used adult diapers arrived in Manila.

After discussions between the Philippine and Canadian governments, 69 containers of trash were shipped back to Canada on Friday last week. However, not all were sent back because 26 containers have already been buried in a Tarlac landfill, while the other eight were disposed of within the Philippines, reported CNN Philippines.

After the Canadian garbage was shipped back to its country of origin, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea announced earlier this week that he is now allowing all government officials to travel to Canada. That’s because last month, Medialdea prohibited all government employees from traveling to the North American country and even told them to minimize their interactions with representatives of the Canadian government, in order to convey the seriousness of the situation and prompt Canada to take steps towards a solution.

This article, Trash talk continues: Duterte says he was willing to declare war on Canada over garbage issue, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!