A forum on the case study on the socio-economic impact of Genetically Modified (GM) Corn or RR Corn in Capiz was held last April 30, 2009 [...] Ms. Eloisa Bosito, MASIPAG-National Secretariat presented & discussed the results of the socio-economic study which shows that almost all of the farmers in both municipalities are dependent with the local financiers in the area, with 57% of the corn farmers in Dumarao are paying an interest of 7% per month. In Maayon, most of the farmers are paying as high as 10% per month.

Gov. Isidro Zayco yesterday said he is creating an ad hoc committee to find a win-win solution to the call to lift the ban on Genetically Modified Organisms entering Negros Occidental and the opposition to such move. The ad hoc committee will be chaired by Board Member Adolfo Mangao, who heads the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Agriculture, with Provincial Agriculturist Igmedio Tabianan and Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena as vice chairmen, Zayco said.

A bill has been filed in Congress pushing for the registration of all genetically modified organisms (GMO) used by companies and other institutions in the country. [...] Rep. Narciso Santiago, the bill’s author, said this registry should be open to the public upon request. He added that the information should also be accessible via the DA’s official website.

The Third World Network (TWN) said the government’s current rules allowing victims to seek redress for harm caused by GMOs have been purely administrative remedies (with no civil and criminal liabilities) and could not provide sufficient relief for victims. In a paper titled, ”Liability and redress in GMOs in the Philippines,” the TWN said even laws on criminal and civil liabilities were not prepared to confront GMO-related disputes since the kind of damage caused by GMOs have been uncommon.

According to Dr. Ida F. Dalamacio of BIOTECH, speculative fear of genetically modified organisms and biotechnology has prevented people from understanding the real potentials and benefits of biotechnology application in agriculture. Dalamacio also clarified that there is more to agribiotechnology than the GMOs and expounded on how biotechnology can be applied to agriculture.

Two more shipments of genetically modified corn worth about P14 million have been intercepted in Negros Occidental, Provincial Agriculturist Igmedio Tabianan said yesterday. As this developed, international environment group, Greenpeace, said it is demanding that the Philippine government issue an outright nationwide ban on all genetically-modified food crops.

A genetically modified (GM) rice that can give 50 percent more harvest while requiring less fertilizer and water is seen as a long term solution to low yield in resource-scarce, poverty-stricken farms threatened by climate change. The GM rice will have more efficient carbon dioxide capture with its enhanced capacity for photosynthesis, the process of using solar energy to capture carbon dioxide and converting it into growth-inducing carbohydrate in plants.

Bounty Agro Ventures, the consignee of a shipment of genetically modified corn, has agreed to ship the commodity of Negros Occidental where genetically modified agricultural crops were banned, Gov. Isidro Zayco said on Tuesday. However, National Federation of Hog Farmers president Albert Lim warned that Negros Occidental would face a shortage in corn for processing into animal feeds if the seized corn is shipped out.

The Ifugao province has declared itself free from genetically modified organisms (GMO), officials said Tuesday. Encouraging organic farming, Gov.Teddy Baguilat, Jr., Mayor Lino Madchiw, Greenpeace campaigner for Southeast Asia Daniel Ocampo and Cathy Untalan, executive director of Miss Earth Foundation, unveiled a GMO-free marker at the Dianara Viewpoint here. ”The Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)-free campaign should be a national campaign. If we influence our neighboring provinces where rice production is large, then that would be a positive impact,” said Baguilat.

[Chris Michelina, managing director of Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management] from the University of the Philippines-Mindanao has urged the government to revolutionize its policy on biotechnology and support scientists whose work on local biological research promotes genetically improved crops. [...] ”The antibiotech movement has only succeeded in scaring small companies from investing in biotechnology and some small governments from investing in biotechnology. They have unwittingly, or wittingly, contributed to the creation of a monopoly of biotech business,” Rasco lamented.