UPDATE 1-Philippines withdraws top diplomats from Canada over trash row

(Adds comment from Canadian government)
MANILA, May 16 (Reuters) - The Philippines is withdrawing
top diplomats from Canada after Ottawa missed a deadline to take
back 69 shipping containers full of trash, the latest move in a
long-running row stoked by threats from Manila's outspoken
president.
Last month, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Canada with
war and said he would personally escort the waste containers by
sea back to Canada. "We shall maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in
Canada until its garbage is ship-bound there," Philippine
Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said on Twitter on Thursday
after the May 15 deadline expired.
In a statement, Canada's foreign ministry said it was
"disappointed", but would continue to engage to resolve the
issue.
"Canada has repeatedly conveyed to the Philippines
government its commitment to promptly ship and dispose of the
Canadian waste in the Philippines," the statement said. "We
remain committed to finalising these arrangements for the return
of the waste to Canada."
Locsin also took issue with Philippine diplomats for not
doing enough to ensure Canada took back the trash, accusing them
of acting in defiance of their president to preserve friendly
relations.
The volatile 74-year-old Duterte, known for his
grandstanding and often hollow threats towards Western powers,
has also said he would dump the trash in front of Canada's
embassy in Manila.
Canada says the waste, exported to Manila between 2013 and
2014, was a commercial transaction not backed by its government.
It has since offered to take it back and the two countries were
in the process of arranging the transfer. The Philippines has made several diplomatic protests to
Canada after a 2016 court ruling that the garbage be returned.
The consignments were labelled as containing plastics to be
recycled in the Philippines, but were filled with diapers,
newspapers and water bottles instead.