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Monsanto "Bullying" in the Philippines
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Masipag News & Views
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Sep 03, 2001 23:59 PDT
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MONSANTO "BULLYING ITS WAY" IN NORTHERN PHILIPPINES,
SAYS A CATHOLIC CLERGY
Amid news militant farmers uprooted Monsanto’s Bt-Corn in Mindanao,
Ilagan Bishop Sergio Utleg has accused the giant agrochemical firm of
“bullying its way” in northern Philippine province of Isabela.
In a Sept 2 pastoral statement read before 35 parishes in Isabela, Utleg
said Monsanto has started with its open-field experiment in two
barangays in the province “in spite of our opposition.”
“Here is a multinational company by the name of Monsanto bullying its
way in the Province of Isabela, ‘wining and dining’ (government)
officials and God knows whom else so that they will accede to its
agenda,” said the Roman Catholic clergy.
Monsanto, through its seed division Agroseed, is currently conducting a
multi-location open-field testing of Bt-Corn in 10 different villages in
five provinces in the northern and southern parts of the country.
The government-approved test sites in Isabela are located in VillaLuna,
Cauayan City; Carulay, Echague and either San Felipe, Ilagan or
Alangigan II, Ilagan.
Monsanto, the second largest seed company in the world, has started
testing Bt-Corn in the villages of Villaluna and Carulay.
Utleg expressed fears that a proposed provincial ordinance, authored by
Hon. Nicasio Bautista Jr., banning the field trial may not be passed
with a variety of wooing techniques employed by Monsanto to local
government officials.
Views of the Roman Catholic Church are held with high regard in this
predominantly Catholic South East Asian country.
Residents complain no public hearing was conducted by Monsanto despite
constitutional provisions asking for consultation where public safety is
concerned.
Masipag scientists believe the open-field testing could contaminate
local corn varieties with the genetically engineered variety whose
safety could still not be established conclusively.
Bt-Corn is genetically engineered to contain gene from the soil
bacterium Baccilus thuringiensis, enabling this crop to fight corn
borer.
Unlike the first field test in General Santos City in late 1999,
detasseling, which prevents corn plants from cross-pollinating, is not a
part of the current biosafety measures in the multi-location testing.
“The pollen of the Bt-Corn will be carried by the wind and fertilize the
surrounding corn plants and thus, even without wanting it, all other
corn plants will be contaminated by the Bt-Corn,” said Utleg.
Masipag scientists say that corn sheds its pollen starting 6:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. Long distance pollen travel could occur on a windy day.
“It puts in unnecessary risk our already endangered genetic resources by
allowing an irreversible contamination of our corn varieties by a
variety that remains uncertain and still a subject of intense scientific
debates worldwide,” said Abigail Verdillo, an agronomist of Masipag.
“And what about the people’s health?” she asked. “Monsanto is simply
testing for the efficacy of Bt-Corn against corn borer and safety tests
for human and the environment is not part of the test protocol.”
The multi-location tests simply aims to confirm the resistance of C-818
and C-838 Yieldgard against Asiatic corn borer, evaluate the corn’s
economic value and compare grain quality.
Scientists say a GMO crop could cause unintended side-effects ranging
from a mere allergy to death.
Isabela province is the second largest corn-growing area in the
Philippines next to Mindanao. Corn is a staple cereal to many native
Isabelan.
“On account of the impending dangers resulting from the field testing of
Bt-Corn, we call on our Provincial Officials to abort the field testing
of Bt-Corn that was already ventured upon by Monsanto and to ban any
further field-testing of Bt-Corn thereupon,” said Utleg.
“May the God who created all things enlighten the minds of persons who
set their sights on profit and wealth rather than the safety and
integrity of creation,” he said.
On Aug 29, about 800 farmers, consumers, environmentalists, church
people and students uprooted Bt-Corn crops in an experimental field of
Monsanto in Tampakan town, South Cotabato. (MNV)
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