Bt eggplant safe for humans, environment - study

MANILA, Philippines - Studies conducted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the genetically modified eggplant being tested in the country is safe for humans and the environment, a partylist representative said yesterday.

AGHAM party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones, a biotechnology advocate, said studies conducted by the DA showed that Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant is “safe and beneficial to farmers, the environment and the consumers.”

Bt is a natural microbial organism in the soil, and has been used as organic insecticide, Palmones said.

He said research and development on Bt eggplant started in 2003 and has been subjected to strict monitoring by the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines and the Biosafety Committee of the Department of Science and Technology.

Palmones said a genetically modified crop undergoes several years of research and development and five to six years of regulation before it can be commercialized.

“The country’s regulatory system for genetically modified crops is even considered as a model by other countries,” Palmones noted.

“Dr. Serge Francisco in his book Projected Impacts of Agricultural Biotechnologies for Fruits and Vegetables in the Philippines and Indonesia emphasized that the current protocol for genetic engineering in the Philippines is more stringent than in the US,” Palmones stressed.

“We have the same experience when we started with Bt corn. We even witnessed some groups in Isabela uprooting the Bt corn in field test sites. But given the right information and support from authorities, our farmers have now learned and appreciated the value of the Bt technology in combating the Asian corn borer,” he explained.

“Given the same opportunity, we look forward to similar success for farmers of Bt eggplant,” Palmones added.

On May 2, the Supreme Court partially granted the petition of Greenpeace seeking to stop field-testing in several provinces of Bt eggplant.

Government scientists, however, said they would continue field-testing the genetically modified eggplant despite the SC’s issuance of a writ of kalikasan against its commercial production.