ESPN sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann tweeted that President Rodrigo Duterte was “shipping himself to Canada” after reading a report mentioning the controversy surrounding Canada’s garbage in the Philippines.
Olbermann shared a breaking news item by CNN Philippines dated May 22, 2019 on his own Twitter account where the media outlet reported that the chief executive had ordered to carry the shipment expenses of Canada’s garbage.
Olbermann is a sports announcer, broadcast journalist and a political commentator known for his criticisms of high-profile individuals such as former United States President George Bush and incumbent President Donald Trump.
Last March 2019, he was slammed for his controversial remarks to a wild turkey hunter on social media.
Olbermann called the hunter a “pea-brained scumbag” and threatened to make his life “a living hell” after reading a feature published in an American daily newspaper website.
The issue with Canada
Canada in June 2013 to January 2014 shipped several containers to the Manila International Container Port and declared that it contained recyclable plastic materials.
However, it was soon discovered that the containers held household trash, plastic bottles and bags, newspapers and used adult diapers.
RELATED: South Korea takes back illegal garbage but Canada remains quiet
The Department of Foreign Affairs had sought the assistance of the Canadian Embassy but the latter noted that Canadian law does not have any provision about returning illegal shipments to its port of origin.
By April 2019, Duterte threatened to declare war against the country for its inactions over the shipment.
Canada was given up to May 15, 2019 to take back the garbage but it missed the deadline, urging the chief executive to pronounce that the Philippines was willing to spend for its shipping costs.
By May 24, Canada said that it has finally hired a company responsible for shipping back the garbage while its government will shoulder the expenses.
Duterte in international community
Since he took office as the Philippine president in 2016, Duterte has been reported by various foreign media organizations for his controversial policies and profanity-laden speeches.
His bloody war on drugs, particularly in his first years, earned him a constant mention on the yearly reports of Human Rights Watch where it listed alarming incidents that happened under his term like extrajudicial killings and attacks on the press.
A United Nations official also remarked that Duterte needed to “submit himself to some sort of psychiatric evaluation” after the chief executive accused one of the organization’s special rapporteur as a communist terrorist.
An Australian news website also compiled some of Duterte’s “crazy quotes” he had uttered in speeches and interviews.
It included his offensive remarks to former US President Barack Obama (“a son of a wh*re”) and to a murdered Australian missionary, among others.
Harvard Political Review additionally noted that “the international community must stop Duterte” for his brutal policies on drug users and druglords.
“The international community has witnessed the consequences of failing to act during humanitarian disasters in the past… If today’s world leaders fail to act against Duterte, they will likely be expressing their regret in the future,” the article observed.