SUBIC -- A Philippine official said a cargo ship has arrived in a northern port to pick up and return 69 containers of Canadian garbage which the government in Manila says was shipped illegally to the Philippines years ago.

Administrator Wilma Eisma of Subic Bay freeport said the containers of garbage will be loaded on the M/V Bavaria starting Thursday night, May 30, and it will head to Canada on Friday, May 31.

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to forcibly ship back the containers of trash, which officials said were falsely declared as recyclable plastic scraps and shipped to Manila in 2013 to 2014.

A Malaysian official has said her country will also send tons of non-recyclable plastic waste back to Western countries. (AP)