‘No to GMO tests’

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said yesterday her government will abandon the previous administration’s policy promoting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to boost agricultural productivity in the country.

"There is great objection to this from the civil society. So the Philippines will not be initiating or pushing for this experimentation," she said.

Former Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara had spearheaded the use of GMO rice varieties to help the country attain self-sufficiency in rice production by 2003 and become a rice exporter by 2004.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo vowed to continue the implementation of the Agricultural and Fishery Modernization Act to improve the living conditions of farmers and the fisherfolk. — Marichu Villanueva