The Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to heed the petition of farmers to stop the importation of genetically modified (GM) rice, particularly LLRICE 62.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap, the farmers raised alarm over the possible contamination of local rice varieties in case LLRICE 62 is accidentally mixed with the farmers' traditional varieties in the market.

The farmers also warned that importing LLRICE 62 may signal the start of the planting of GM rice that will pose a greater danger of contaminating the local rice fields, especially those that have switched to organic rice.

About 200 rice farmers from Bohol and Mindanao individually wrote their letter to Yap, asking him to deny the application of Bayer CropScience to import LLRICE 62.

Socrates Lugasip, SEARICE technical officer, said that the lack of transparency in the application and approval process of GM food and crops has denied the farmers with the venue for redress, especially on rice that embodies their life and tradition.

"This is the heart of the petition filed before the court seeking to declare the DA Administrative Order No. 8 as unconstitutional. It denies the people of their constitutional right to information, health and balanced and healthful ecology," Lugasip said.

In August, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 101 issued a 20­day temporary restraining order against the Bureau of Plant Industry, an attached agency of the DA, prohibiting them from approving Bayer's GM rice application until the case is being heard.

Source: Leyco, Chino, "Farmers Oppose GMO Rice," November 17, 2007, http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/17/yehey/metro/20071117m et3.html

A court has ordered a temporary hold on an application to bring genetically modified rice into the Philippines, pending a study of possible health and environment hazards, activists said August 30, 2007.

A regional trial court in Quezon City issued the temporary restraining order after the environmental group Greenpeace asked it to stop Bayer Philippines, Inc., the local affiliate of German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer, from introducing the LL62 rice variety.

Considering debate on genetically modified organisms, it would be prudent to restrain the company from introducing LL62 in the Philippines, where rice is a staple food, according to the order Wednesday from Judge Evangeline Castillo Marigomen.

The order prohibits the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Plant Industry — also named respondents in the case — from approving Bayer's application for 20 days. The court set a September 14 hearing on Greenpeace's petition for a preliminary injunction.

"Greenpeace believes that the pending application of a genetically altered rice to be used for food, feed and processing in our country is a very serious issue of public concern," Greenpeace campaigner Daniel Ocampo said in a statement. "The entry of GMO rice in our country will irrevocably alter the future of our most important staple food."

The petition for injunction, filed last week, questions the lack of public consultation on GMO approvals by the two government agencies, particularly in the case of Bayer LL62's application.

Last year, U.S. farmers sued Bayer's CropScience unit after its genetically modified rice LL601 contaminated regular rice in the U.S., causing rice prices to drop.

The German Agriculture Ministry also confirmed that LL601 rice was found in stores in Germany's leading supermarket chain, which removed the affected brand from its shelves. The modified rice is illegal in the European Union.

The USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with food regulators in Britain, the Netherlands and Canada, have all said that LL601 poses no harm to human health.

Source: The Associated Press Friday, August 31, 2007.

SEARICE, together with Greenpeace, filed a petition yesterday, August 23, 2007 (Manila time), to prohibit the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) from considering the application of Bayer Crop Science for direct use of Bayer's genetically modified Liberty Link 62 (LL62) Rice for food, feed and for processing before a trial court in Manila.

The petition also aims to declare the provisions on public consultation contained in Department of Agriculture Order No. 8 (DA AO8) as unconstitutional as these violate the Right to Health of the people (Section 15); the Right to a balanced and healthful ecology of the people (Section 16) of Article II; and the Right of the people to information on matters of public concern (Section 7) of Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

LL62 rice, a genetically modified rice was developed by Bayer Crop Science to be tolerant to glyphosate­containing herbicide. In August 2006, Bayer filed an application to the DA’s BPI seeking approval for the use of LL 62 rice for food, feed and processing in the Philippines.

BPI, the main regulating body on GMO applications in the country, has kept the Filipino public in the dark by not disclosing the status of the application of LL62 rice.

Health and safety over the introduction of genetically nmodified rice such as LL62 rice has been a lingering public concern and a subject of debate even in scientific circles.

The implications of a possible contamination of the Philippines' grain supply if importation of LL62 rice were allowed is also a major concern. “The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has recently approved the US$20M commodity loan under the US Public Law 480 (PL 480) which involves importation of 69,000 metric tons of rice from the US. The planned importation might include LL62 rice if its application for direct food, feed and for processing is approved. We are uncertain of what will happen if this rice were mixed with ordinary rice that we are eating,”explained Che de Jesus, SEARICE’s policy officer, during a press conference in Manila yesterday.

“Filipino rice farmers that we are working with are particularly concerned about this. The influx of imported rice, as it is, is already marginalizing their sector as they can no longer compete with highly subsidized US farmers. They might even lose the little edge left in the organic market if their organic rice produce would be contaminated by LL62 Rice. Accidents of contamination can happen in milling and packing facilities,” de Jesus explained.

The Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) is urging the Department of Agriculture (DA) to make its evaluation process for a genetically modified (GM) rice variant "more transparent."

SEARICE also called on the DA to reject Bayer Philippines' application to commercially distribute its GM rice variant Liberty Link 62 (LL62).

"Allowing the importation of this GM rice requires transparency and public knowledge as rice is the Filipinos' staple food," said Socrates Lugasip, technical officer of SEARICE.

"The people need to know the reasons behind the government's rush to allow this while this has not been grown commercially elsewhere, no history of safe consumption by humans, much less by a population that eats rice three times a day, whole­year round," Lugasip said.

The international non-government organization also posed serious questions on the independence of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) from multinational firms producing GM products.

"We urge the Department of Agriculture to divulge the composition of the STRP and assure the public of the members' independence from any GMO [GM organism] company's interest. It is the responsibility of the DA officials to ensure that the people's staple food is not dictated by the GMO companies' profit interests," said Lugasip.

SEARICE pointed to Administrative Order 8 issued by the DA, which states that the STRP shall be "composed of at least three reputable and independent scientists to evaluate the application, particularly the risk assessment studies conducted and actions taken by relevant regulatory authorities in the country of origin, and submit its report to the Bureau of Plant Industry within 30 days from its receipt of the application."

The SEARICE representative cited a recent Greenpeace report which alleged that the STRP is composed mostly of experts who were commissioned by multinational firms to do research on genetic­plant materials.

Meanwhile, a member of the STRP said he would dismiss the application of Bayer for LL62 right away for "lack of merit."

"Would it enhance agricultural productivity, global competitiveness, lower the price of rice in the market, alleviate poverty and hunger, improve the health of the rice­eating Filipinos? These were the justifications for the country to hitch a ride with the biotechnology bandwagon in the early years of the GMO debate, but these are now conveniently forgotten in the decision­making process," said Dr. Emerlito Borromeo.

Borromeo also said the evaluation of GMO applications should not be left to the STRP alone because their perspective is confined to "technical aspects" only and could not defend the economic and socio­cultural implications of a particular GMO product.

Advocates of GM products had earlier defended the country's regulatory and approval process and said it can ensure that any GM product screened and approved will be safe for human consumption.

Source: Ng, Jennifer A., "SEARICE Urges DA to Review GMO Rice-Evaluation Process," Businessmirror, November 16, 2007