If Filipinos are worried about modified foods, say officers of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, then it’s way too late. That’s because since birth we’ve been nourished on a diet rich in patis, toyo, bagoong, buro, taho, tokwa, not to mention cheese, wine, bread and other foods that have undergone some form of modification. Dr. Saturnina Halos, the coalition’s research director, says food modification is ”the use of living materials to produce or change food,” such as the use of fermentation to change salted fish into patis, soy beans into toyo or soy sauce, or milk to cheese.

For an ordinary farmer, only a miracle can make a corn plant survive for almost a month under an unusually intense heat and without a single drop of water. But a scientific breakthrough practically made that history after local farmers here witnessed for themselves how a new corn variety developed by a local biotechnology company was able to survive a drought for 29 straight days. [...] He eventually developed Gloria variety out of a broad genetic base, primarily from corn varieties in Mexico, Thailand and UPLB.

Religious leaders here hailed the recent decision of a Philippine court in issuing a temporary restraining order against the genetically modified rice produced by Bayer Crop Science, Inc. Oblates of Notre Dame Sister Pat Babiera, justice and peace coordinator of the Diocese of Marbel, assailed Bayer for trying to introduce genetically modified rice variety Liberty Link 62 (LL62) in the country.

”Consistent with our advocacy stance for preserving the integrity of creation­-we laud the temporary restraining order issued by a court stopping the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Plant Industry from approving the application of the genetically-modified rice Bayer LL62,” she said in a statement.

Religious leaders here hailed the recent decision of a Philippine court in issuing a temporary restraining order against the genetically modified rice produced by Bayer Crop Science, Inc. Oblates of Notre Dame Sister Pat Babiera, justice and peace coordinator of the Diocese of Marbel, assailed Bayer for trying to introduce genetically modified rice variety Liberty Link 62 (LL62) in the country.

”Consistent with our advocacy stance for preserving the integrity of creation­-we laud the temporary restraining order issued by a court stopping the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Plant Industry from approving the application of the genetically-modified rice Bayer LL62,” she said in a statement.

The Philippine bio-safety standards and regulations have been cited in several international fora as a model in the region for its science-based, transparent and responsive system. The professionals behind the bio-safety regulations are people of impeccable reputation from the academe and scientific community and will not tolerate the entry of materials which will ruin Philippine agriculture. Parallel safety assessments of every GM crop applied for commercial use are performed not only by several government regulators, but by independent scientists and technical experts in the field of human, animal and environmental safety.

MUNICIPAL mayors who took a two-day crash course on biotechnology in Dumaguete City gave the local government unit (LGU) Course on Biotech a big thumbs up and a positive rating, saying the course provided them very important inputs on how biotechnology can help improve local governance through various interventions at the local level.

The planned commercial release of Golden Rice by 2011 to boost the effort of government to combat malnutrition in the country is a welcome development, Negros Oriental agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca said. He said scientists are eyeing the commercial release of the improved rice variety, which has been reported to reduce chronic micronutrient deficiency suffered by millions of children and pregnant women across the country.

A Philippine court has temporarily halted an application to bring genetically modified (GM) rice to the country, pending a study of possible health and environmental effects. A temporary restraining order was issued yesterday (18 September) after Greenpeace, together with other nongovernmental organisations, challenged the Philippine government’s right to approve Bayer Crop Science’s LL62, a herbicide-tolerant type of hybrid rice.

The key to curing a disease that affects 21 million people in the U.S. could be found on your dinner table nearly every night. One University of Central Florida professor may have finally unlocked the code to wipe diabetes completely off the map. Dr. Henry Daniell and his team of 20 bio-medical researchers have worked for five years, experimenting with genetically modified lettuce and its affect on diabetes patients. They have come up with what they believe is a cure for diabetes.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 101 has issued a temporary restraining order against the government’s approval of genetically modified rice imports on the petition of environmentalists who cited the possible risks from the altered cereal. Judge Evangeline Castillo-Marigomen granted the petition filed by the environmental group Greenpeace, which was joined by other personalities such actress Angel Aquino, models Amanda Claire Griffin and Angel Aquino, and beauty queen Anna Theresa Licaros, asking that the government be restrained from allowing Bayer Philippines Inc. to import Liberty Link Rice 62 (LLR62).