Davao to ban entry of GMOs
DAVAO CITY—After disallowing the growing of genetically modified plants alongside organic crops, including the experimental culture of the so-called Frankenstein varieties, the city council has started tackling a more detailed proposal to keep modified organisms out of the city. The move was hailed by local anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) groups. “While the local Organic Agriculture Ordinance explicitly said that organic crops cannot coexist with genetically modified crops, we still need to protect our agricultural biodiversity from future attempts to plant GMO crops in the city,” Tina Delima of the group Sustainable Integrated Area Development Initiatives in Mindanao-Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development, said of the proposed ordinance. Under the proposed ordinance, now the subject of public consultations being conducted by the city council, the mere entry of GMOs was to be outlawed. Its importation, introduction, planting, growing, selling and trading would not be allowed, Councilor Benjamin Al-ag said of the proposed ordinance recently passed by Councilor Pilar Braga. Go Organic Davao City, a network of organic farming practitioners and their supporters, said the approval of the proposed ordinance would totally shut down the city from GMOs. It was also timely, the group said, as there had been recent attempts to revive field testing of GMOs at the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Mindanao campus here. The field tests were halted in 2010 when Mayor Sara Duterte ordered genetically modified eggplant seedlings being grown at the UP Mindanao campus uprooted amid protests by anti-GMO groups led by Go Organic Davao City. If the ordinance banning GMOs were approved, it would allow the city to tap the growing demand for organic products for domestic and international markets, said Ling Castro, policy advocacy officer of the Interface Development Interventions. The market for organic products has been expanding at 10 to 30 per cent per year, she said. “Davao City, which is branding itself as Green Davao, can easily tap this market,” she added. “By ensuring that no GMO crops will pollute our agricultural fields in the future, not only can we assure our food security but also the healthy quality of our produce,” she said. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao
Organic advocates push for GMO Ban Ordinance
Davao City – The Go Organic Davao City, a network of organic farming practitioners and their supporters, is pushing for the passage of the GMO Ban Ordinance in Davao City. “We need to protect the integrity of organic agriculture in Davao City”., said Tina Delima , Officer –in-charge of SIMCAARRD. “While the principles of our local Organic Agriculture ordinance has explicitly stated that organic crops cannot co-exist with genetically modified crops, we need to ensure the protection of the agricultural biodiversity of the city from future attempts to plant GMO crops here in the city.”, she said. The Go Organic Davao City network had been at the foreground of the protests against the recent attempts to revive the field testing of the controversial Bt eggplant in Davao City. Councilor Bernard Al-ag is calling for a committee hearing this February 15, 2012 to discuss Councilor Pilar Braga’s proposal to enact an Ordinance banning the entry, importation, introduction , planting, growing, selling and trading of Genetically Modified Organisms within the territorial jurisdiction of Davao City. GoDC members are expected to attend. If eventually approved as an ordinance, Davao City will join a select league of municipalities and cities which are GMO-free and are poised to take charge of the growing demand for organic products domestically and internationally. “Currently, the growing market for organic products is expanding at 10-30% per annum.”, said Ling Castro, Policy Advocacy Officer of the Interface Development Interventions. “Davao City can easily tap this market especially since it is also branding itself as a Green Davao , where our lifestyle is sustainable, ecologically safe and healthy .”, she pointed out. But more than economics, the mainstreaming of organic farming is also an issue of health. “ International studies have indicated that organic crops contain 40% more antioxidants which lessen the risk of heart disease and cancer compared to pesticide-intensive crops.”, said Castro. “By ensuring that no GMO crops will pollute our agricultural fields in the future, not only can we assure our food security but also the healthy quality of our produce.”, she said. At present, Bohol, Mindoro and Negros islands have already declared themselves GMO-free. Elsewhere, municipalities and cities have begun to shift towards organic agriculture by passing local ordinances mainstreaming organic agriculture and outlawing genetically modified crops and products. Last November 2011, President Aquino had also reiterated the support of his administration to the mainstreaming of organic agriculture by saying that is poverty alleviation and hunger mitigation strategy at a national conference on organic agriculture. (#)
Gov’t measures to stop ‘Panama disease’ branded as ‘exercise in futility’
DAVAO CITY, Nov 22, 2011—At least 1,000 hectares of banana farms in Southern Mindanao have been destroyed so far by Fusarium, a disease with no known cure that organic farming advocates said was aggravated by the practice of monocropping in the region. The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) said Fusarium, also known as Panama disease, had devastated more than 1,000 ha of banana farms as of yesterday. Madeline Dizon-Marfori, PBGEA chair, said the problem threatens the survival of at least 300,000 families, who are dependent on the banana industry, which could be Mindanao’s top export revenue earner. In her family’s company for example, Marfori said some people have lost their jobs after about 40 ha of banana farms that showed signs of the disease have been shut down. She said the infected areas have no chance of recovering soon as the fungus that causes the disease is known to thrive in soil for at least five years. It was given the name Panama, after the Central American country where the disease wiped out entire banana plantations and brought the country’s economy to its knees. “The Panama disease is the most serious challenge currently facing the banana industry,” Marfori said. Lia Esquillo, executive director of the Interface for Development Intervention, said the Fusarium disease was a “problem waiting to happen” in big plantations here because the practice of crop monoculture reduces plants’ resistance to diseases. “It was bound to occur because monoculture plantations are never sustainable.” she said. “The Fusarium disease is nature’s way of asking for a rest from all of the toxic abuse that the plantations have done to the soil.” She said because big plantations propagate bananas through tissue culture, the susceptibility of bananas to the disease increased. “The cavendish fruit is an infertile clone,” said Esquillo. “This means it doesn’t have the natural resistance to diseases which can only be developed from crossbreeding varieties.” Esquillo said because the disease was difficult to control, the Department of Agriculture’s effort to help farms and plantations was “an exercise in futility.” “As long as plantations do not have the agricultural biodiversity which comes from organic farming, crops will continue to be attacked by new diseases,” she said. “Instead of helping out big banana corporations, the government should instead allocate funds to encourage more farmers to shift to more ecological and sustainable farming methods,” said Dagohoy Magaway, a member of the group Go Organic Davao City. Germelina Lacorte and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao
Mayor insists anew: No to Bt eggplant testing in Davao
NOV. 22, 2011 DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Z. Duterte’s stand on the controversial Bascillus thurigiensis eggplant locally known as Bt talong has not changed amid clamor for another round of field tests here. Duterte said she sees no compelling reason to allow the field testing of Bt talong in any part of the city, even inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao campus in Mintal. UP Mindanao is among the proponents of the controversial project. Bt talong is an example of a genetically-modified organism (GMOs), which is capable of protecting itself from insects, particularly borers. “I do not see any benefit that we can get from it especially for the city,” Duterte said. She said the City Government will issue an official stance on the proposed second round of Bt talong open field test once the City Agriculturist Office is done with its study and recommendations. It can be recalled that last year, Duterte ordered UP Mindanao chancellor Dr. Gilda Rivero to stop Bt talong trials due to its failure to comply with majority of the conditions set by the Bureau of Plant Industry. Meanwhile, the City Council had junked the request of UP Mindanao professor Gerardo A. Santos who sought for the approval of the City Council for the continuance of a field testing of Bt talong in the city, saying the public must not be deprived of a free choice between crops that are organically grown and genetically modified. Santos requested the council to reconsider the field testing of the Bt talong in the city after the City Government ordered to stop similar test inside the UP campus in December last year. ( Jereco Paloma, Sunstar Davao)
Organic farming advocates challenge UPMin to show proof that latest talong plantings are not Bt-modified crops
DAVAO CITY – An island network representing organic farmers and their support groups is challenging the University of the Philippines Mindanao’s (UPMin) assurance that the latest round of eggplant trial testing at its campus site in Bago Oshiro does not involve the genetically modified Bt talong. Go Organic Mindanao (GOM) in its press statement said that UPMin and Dr. Eufemio Rasco should show proof that the eggplant seedlings which have already been planted in the former field trial site of the Bt talong are not a new batch of genetically modified eggplants from the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) in UP Los Banos. “It is not enough that we should take their word for it; because after all, these are the very same people who sought to circumvent local administrative processes in order to carry out the Bt talong field testing experiment. UP Mindanao should show proof that these are not genetically modified Bt eggplants. ”, the statement said. Last January 28, 2011, UPMin Chancellor Dr. Gilda C. Rivero had written Mayor Sarah Duterte informing her of the latest eggplant experiment which is being conducted by Dr. Eufemio Rasco. In the letter, she wrote that the latest experiment is a study on pest management of eggplant and assured the Mayor that the latest plantings do not involve the use of Bt eggplant. “The general objective (of the experiment) is to determine the relative effectiveness of non-BT control measures”, she wrote. “The results will also serve as benchmark information for evaluation the severity of the pest problem in Davao City”. Her letter also asked for the Mayor’s endorsement of the project to the City Agriculturist Office as well to the NGOs who are against the Bt talong field testing. But GOM members are not convinced. “How are we to know that what they are telling us is the truth? Last week , they told us that the Bt talong field testing is funded by the University but when copies of the contract came out, we found out that the contract was signed by private entities and not the University itself. Now they are telling us that this new batch is not Bt talong. Are we supposed to believe that at face value?”, asked Lia Esquillo, Executive Director of the Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) Local critics of the latest field experiments point out there were already numerous studies which have been conducted , no less by the Institute of Plant Breeding-UPLB itself. IDIS Research Head Ann Bolo revealed that the research of Dr. Merdelyn C. Lit of IPB has provided important data on the resistance of hundreds of eggplant genotypes and their wild relatives against leafhopper and shoot/fruit borer. “Dr. Lit’s research had also resulted in the development of efficient field and greenhouse techniques for Host Plant resistance screening of the varieties, so what does Dr. Rasco seek to prove with his research?”, she asked. “If by gauging the effectiveness of non-Bt control measures, they mean to reduce the pest population in the field without use of insecticides, then the Lit research studies are already a validation that one does not need Bt crops in order to achieve high production yield.”, she said. Bolo also added that she would be interested in finding out the project’s research design. “UPMin should also release a copy of the research design so that those who doubt the objectives of the experiment will have the chance to see for themselves”, she said. Meanwhile, GOM members called on the research proponents to include local farmers in the study. “If the goal of the study is to study organic and conventional methods in pest management, they should not ignore the indigenous farming knowledge that local farmers have in combating eggplant pests”, said Dennie Udtuhan, a community organizer for FARMCOOP. “ Farmers know what’s best for them since they have been doing it for all their lives”, she pointed out.
UPMin challenged: be upfront on the nature of Bt talong field testing
DAVAO CITY – Organic groups in Davao challenged the University of the Philippines in Mindanao (UPMin) to be transparent on the true nature of the genetically modified Bt eggplant field testing. Previous statements prepared by UP Mindanao officials on the nature of experimental trials are now cast in doubt as copies of the contract have recently surfaced , revealing contractual obligations that run contrary to their official statements. During last week’s hearing of the City Council Committee on Agriculture, UPMin Chancellor Gilda Rivero said that the Bt talong project is a public research which is funded by taxpayers money. But based on the contract obtained by organic groups, UP Mindanao is not party to the agreement made with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications ( ISAAA), which made the Bt talong project feasible. Opponents of the field trial testing have managed to get hold of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ISAAA and the University of the Philippines Los Banos Foundation, Inc (UPLBFI) and the University of the Philippines Mindanao Foundation Inc. (UPMFI). Among the glaring revelations in the contract is that the agreement was signed between private entities, and not with the State University itself. The MOU lists the UPLBFI as a private corporation in Laguna while the UPMFI is a non-government organization based in Davao City. Dr. Cecilio Arboleda, UPLBFI Executive Director and Dr. Edmundo Prantilla, UPMFI President signed the MOU with Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator. Go Organic Mindanao (GOM) member and IDIS Executive Director Lia Esquillo said that this shows who the real instigators of the project are. “ Why are Hautea and Rasco insisting that the Bt talong is the property of the University when the contract was signed between private entities and not the University itself?”, she asked. For GOM members, this is proof that the experiment is not being publicly funded but rather part of institutional arrangements between multinational corporations and research institutions. GOM members are also particularly concerned over a MOU provision which states that the ISAAA, other than provide funds and technical and admin assistance to the other parties, shall assume no other responsibility and incur no liability arising from the conduct of the field trials. “So this means that ISAAA can go scot-free if the Bt talong gene escapes into the local environment and gets consumed unknowingly ? “ , asked Esquillo. Last month , a new analysis on the results of the feeding study on Bt talong revealed that the genetically modified eggplant poses significant risks to health as it had caused inflammation, reproductive and liver damage on experimental rats. For Dr. Romeo Quijano, a prominent University of the Philippines medical toxicologist, this is enough reason why the Bt talong field testing must be stopped. Invoking the precautionary principle, he said “ There are now sufficient indications to show that this particular genetic modification of the eggplant will result to health related risks in humans . All the more reason, that the field testing must be stopped.” Dr. Quijano, who also teaches at the UP Manila College of Pharmacology and Toxicology, further said that, “With the precautionary principle, there is recognition that long-term health impacts of genetically modified crops are difficult to predict and often impossible to prove,”he said. “It puts the burden of proof of safety on the polluter, in which case, is Monsanto”, he emphasized. Organic farming advocates have been quick to point out that the Bt gene was sourced from the eggplant stock of the Maharashtra Hybrid Company (MAHYCO). MAHYCO is a known subsidiary of Monsanto, one of the world’s largest multinational agricultural corporation. The track record of Monsanto on its devious strategies to ensure monopoly on seed ownership has been well documented. Under the guise of doing research to increase crop productivity, it enters into agreement with academic institutions. But the results of these industry studies which are usually submitted to regulators are unpublished and typically kept secret because they claim that it is “confidential business information”. The MOU underscored this. In Section 1.3.8, the MOU obligates UPMFI not to disclose data info, findings and other incidents produced and borne during the field trial, hence fueling fears that if contamination occurs during the field testing, residents living near the testing site will never even know. “If the gene contaminates the local varieties , who will tell us that what we are already consuming are Bt eggplants?”, asked Dagohoy Magaway, a local organic farming advocate. “And if we get sick from eating these genetically modified eggplants, who will be made liable?”. Tom Villarin, Executive Director of SIMCAARD, a non-government organization focusing on farming issues and asset reform said that Hautea and Rasco should come clean on this issue. “Cut the crap. This is not just about raising crop productivity of eggplant farmers or ensuring food security for Filipinos”, he said. “The hidden agenda here is about multinational corporations trying to control our country’s food production. If they control seed production, they control the food supply. “, he stressed