The Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines Inc. urged the Supreme Court Friday to reconsider its decision banning field testing on genetically modified organisms.
CAMP in a position paper expressed dismay over the recent Supreme Court decision that permanently stopped the research on Bt talong.
The court also voided Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Order No. 08 and temporarily stopped the research, development and utilization of GMO technology.
AO No. 8 in 2002 sets the rules and regulations on the importation and release into the environment of plants and plant products derived from the use of modern biotechnology.
“We urge the Supreme Court to review its decision, considering that its assumptions are outdated and its information based purely on ideology,” CAMP said.
“This decision will tend to perpetuate existing hazardous practices for agricultural pest control,” CAMP added.
The group said farmers use synthetic chemical pesticides on eggplants as often as every other day during the crop’s growth cycle.
“There is absolutely no justification to lump GMOs with toxic chemicals waste, the hazardous materials for which the precautionary principle was originally designed, CAMP said.
The group noted that the Supreme Court should allow Bt talong research to continue and let AO No. 8 to remain in effect until a new set of rules for GMO was formulated.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to nullify Administrative Order 8 is absolutely
unjust. AO8 has a proven record of safe and effective use for the past 12 years,” CAMP said.
It warned that the Supreme Court’s decision would greatly affect the operations of feed millers and the 400,000 Filipino farmers who plant GM corn.
“We call on the Supreme Court to allow AO8 to remain in effect until a new set of rules for GMOs is formulated so that R and D and utilization of GM
technology can continue without interruption,” the group said.
“We need all the appropriate technologies, including GM technology, to produce sufficient and affordable food and feed, to protect our environment, to address the hazards of climate change, emerging pests and diseases, and to provide better lives to our farmers and their families,”it said.
Earlier, the Philippine Maize Federation Inc. said the Supreme Court’s decision would greatly effect the country’s corn and livestock industry.
Philmaize president Roger Navarro said the country imports around 3 million metric tons of GMO soybeans used in making animal feeds.