”Golden Rice may expand the list of nutritional options for poor Pinoys,” the head of the Philippine Rice Research Institute said recently. ”It will help provide solutions for our Vitamin A deficiency problem,” said PhilRice executive director Eufemio Rasco Jr., adding that ”we are offering it as one of the alternatives to solve nutritional issues.” [...] ”We’re getting close to completion (on the safety evaluation of the rice),” said Dr. Rasco.

Director Candida Adalla of DA Biotech PIU [...] clarified that the BT eggplant has a BT toxin which is a ”normal” component of the Philippine soil. [...] ”We are already associated with it (BT toxin). We simply got a gene from it and transferred it (to the eggplant) to make the eggplant resistant to pests,” said Adalla, who is also an entomologist. She said the genetically-modified eggplant has the ”very same appearance, taste, and chemical composition as the normal eggplant.”

THE City Government told proponents of the controversial Bacillus thurigiensis eggplant or the ”Bt talong” to make things clear first before they could run the second round of testing they are mulling. Leonardo Avila III, acting chief of the City Agriculturist Office, said the City Government in general did not change its stance in opposing the open field test of Bt talong in any parts of the city, even inside the University of the Philippines in Mindanao, in Mintal, this city. The UP Los Baños as well as the UPMin along with funding agencies are the proponents of the introduction of Bt talong in Davao City.

The Philippines poorest member of the parliament and a farmer himself-- Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael V. Mariano opined the promotion and development of Golden Rice in this a country of 7,100 islands will only strengthen the widespread control of transnational corporations in agriculture and food by patenting seeds and varieties of rice. “There is no gold(en) (opportunity) in Golden Rice.” The farmer legislator solon issued this scathing statement on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) in Nueva Ecija.

Tests of genetically modified organisms would be allowed in the city only on condition these are done in a “strictly confined environment.” [...] In a forum, city agriculturist Leonardo Avila III said the city government would allow tests of Bt talong only in laboratories using pollen tents and wire mesh with very small holes to prevent the accidental release of pollen into the air or soil. “We want them to really put up the infrastructures where the mesh could not even allow pollen or bees to get inside,” he said.

Nestor Lebico, secretary-general of regional peasants alliance Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma ha Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB), said the commercialization of Golden Rice in the Philippines would pave for the introduction of other genetically modified products in the country. “Golden Rice is a Trojan horse to create acceptability of genetically modified crops and food,” Mr. Lebico said in a forum attended by some 200 farmers from various parts of the region on Saturday.

Favourable media coverage may have influenced public acceptance of biotechnology in the Philippines, according to researchers. A ten-year study published in the latest issue of The Journal of Science Communication of the coverage of agricultural biotechnology in the Philippines’ three leading newspapers showed that they published an average of 136 articles a year. […..] “News coverage was also timed with important events, with reports peaking during 2002 to 2005, largely because of developments concerning Bt corn,” said lead author Mariechel Navarro of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications in Manila.

In a round table discussion attended by at least 60 Filipino scientists on Monday, foreign scientists from the British company Oxford Insect Technologies (Oxitec) and the National Academy of Sciences proposed their newest technology aimed at eradicating the Aedes aegypti species of dengue-bearing mosquitoes. Dr. Luke Alphey, co-founder and chief scientist of Oxitec, and Dr. Anthony James, a molecular biologist and a member of NAS, who are both part of the team working on the genetically engineered mosquitoes, are in the country upon the invitation of the DOST.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute and the International Rice Research Institute are tapping the Helen Keller International to carry out feeding trials for the pro-Vitamin A-rich Golden Rice which should boost the crop’s market potential. An institution aiming to prevent blindness and malnutrition, HKI has started mapping out a program with Philrice and IRRI on the feeding trial. This may happen at least two years from now after Golden Rice developers will have obtained approval for the nutrient-rich rice.

A US-based scientist visiting the country said genetically-modified golden rice is not the solution to Vitamin A deficiency. [...] In round table discussion with legislators at the House of Representatives, Dr. Michael Hansen, senior scientist of the Consumers Union (USA), raised issues involving the golden rice.