October 2007

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Editorial

Mayors join biotech bandwagon

MANY have become aware of the many possibilities offered by biotechnology products and not a few mayors have expressed interest in how these products could benefit their constituents, many of whom continue to live in misery, unaware that all around them are agricultural assets that are profitable but have not been tapped.

It is a pity that in spite of scientific and technological advances worldwide, many Filipinos have yet to universally accept the inexorable march to biotechnology. Blame it on prejudice or fear of the unknown, or blame it on the fear of knowing.

Indeed, the rich biodiversity of the country offers enormous possibilities at a time when treatment for AIDS is sought in crocodile farms, or the best anesthetic is being isolated from green frogs in the Amazon. It should matter more to remember that erythromycin was isolated from Philippine soil, and that many scientists are combing the country’s last frontier to search for the proverbial cure to every imaginable ailment.

Being on the frontline of the campaign against hunger and poverty, mayors know that time is of the essence and that the earlier they accept agricultural biotechnology products and propagate them, the better for their constituents.

In essence, this is what drives mayors to have a broader mindset, to accept anything novel for the sake of the common weal, even to extent of venturing into the unknown, the territory where bravery and daring are a must.

Mayors who are supporting the biotech bandwagon know full well that they have nothing to fear in learning the intricacies of biotechnology and proceeding to accept the necessity of promoting agricultural biotechnology products.

Indeed, through biotechnological advances, we have learned that traditional crops could be profitably enhanced and transformed into value-added products.

It is science, not superstition, which has given malunggay the great importance it deserves. It is science that will transform cassava, sugarcane, sweet sorghum and even trunks and seeds of malunggay into bioethanol or biofuel. It is science, not abject ignorance, which would create many byproducts from coconut, bamboo, abaca, corn, malunggay and a host of other trees and crops that the country could propagate profitably.

The active participation of mayors in promoting agricultural biotechnology products nationwide shows that officialdom is not blind to the virtue of science and the deaf to the shrill cries of their constituents for economic relief.

Indeed, behind the inexorable march of biotechnology in the country is the social impact that it has on the people, 80 percent of whom depend on agricultural production to survive.

The Philippines’ rich soil, the unique characteristics of its agricultural products, and its being an archipelago all add up to give it an advantage as a laboratory for a variety of agricultural biotechnology products.

Through painstaking biosafety procedures and strict regulation, the Philippines may become a watershed for developing agricultural biotechnology products that can answer a variety of needs—by the natural ingredients, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries.

Mayors, scientists, farmers and ordinary citizens, once united, may one day transform the country into a haven for biotechnology and profit from it immensely.

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Editorial

Mayors join biotech bandwagon

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