Local execs back GMA policy on biotech

The number of local government officials backing the policy of President Arroyo on the use of biotechnology to achieve food sufficiency continued to swell following the expression of support by the powerful League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) chapter of South Cotabato.

Earlier, Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. and Rep. Rodolfo Albano, both of Isabela, hailed Arroyo’s move to allow the entry of biotechnology-processed plants and plant products into the country. Dy and Albano said the move "will help local farmers see first-hand the benefits that biotechnology will bring to the agriculture sector."

Biotechnology research also received support from Catholic bishops led by influential Sorsogon prelate Jesus Varela and outspoken Manila Auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Bacani.

Meanwhile, LMP South Cotabato president Claudius Barroso told Arroyo that the mayors of the province fully support the field-testing of a variety of biotechnology-processed corn being done in their municipalities.

Barroso said South Cotabato maize farmers are pinning their hopes on the variety to increase harvest despite the proliferation of the Asian corn borer, the most prevalent pest in local corn farms. The biotech variety called YieldGard is naturally resistant to the corn borer. The local trials showed that South Cotabato farmers can increase their harvest using YieldGard by an average of 20 to 40 percent with much reduced application of insecticides.

Barroso also told Arroyo that the mayors have opted to endorse biotechnology "in the absence of proof that there are dangers to the products of this modern process". Borroso decried efforts by certain quarters to stop the field tests on biotech crops "without providing our constituents the scientific basis for their objections."

The trial farms in Barroso’s town of Tampakan was violently destroyed by alleged non-governmental organizations objecting to the entry of biotech com which could replace the present insecticide-dependent varieties.

Barrroso has moved to have the field trials resume in his locality. He also urged the anti-biotech groups to wait until all field tests are done and allow our farmers to see for themselves the benefits of biotechnology."

Barroso’s endorsement of the Arroyo policy on the adoption of biotechnology was backed by the heads of the barangays of Tampakan.

President Arroyo signed and issued the Policy Statement on Modern Biotechnology in which she expressed optimism that modern biotechnology "will provide farmers and fisherfolks the opportunity to increase their overall productivity and income, enhance the welfare of consumers, promote efficiency, competitiveness and improved quality standards of local industries.

The prestigious US National Academy of Sciences also backed the use of biotechnology and recently said "dramatic advances are required in food production, distribution and access’ if the world is going to meet these needs."

Biotechnology is now predominantly used in some 14 countries, including the Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and the US, which now grows 68 percent of the world’s total biotechnology processed crop acres. Biotech crops now account for 52 percent of the corn, soy, cotton and canola acreage in the US. Several Asian countries like China, Thailand and Indonesia have already made giant steps towards the adoption of biotechnology.