LGUs welcome Bt eggplant field trials

LOCAL Government Units (LGUs) are not falling for the arguments of the oppositors of the field trial of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant in seven sites nationwide.

They are not following the lead of some LGUs that have insisted on stopping the tests since they have no truck with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biotechnology products in general.

Two of the LGUs that have approved the conduct of the Bt eggplant field trials are the municipal councils of Bay, Laguna and Pili, Camarines Sur.

In both cases, the local officials heard and debated the matter after studying the opposition to the tests and the arguments of scientists who are all for it.

As early as October 2010, the Pili municipal council endorsed the tests and wrote to the president of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) that it had dumped the petition of an organization seeking to stop the trial at the CBSUA campus.

Last February 14, the municipal council of Bay, Laguna unanimously approved a resolution to endorse the test and interposed no objection to the holding of the trial in the town.

A day before, the Sangguniang Barangay (SB) of Paciano Rizal also approved the field trial and the barangay council of Tuntungin-Putho in Los Baños, Laguna ratified a resolution calling for the holding of the test.

The latest LGU to join in was Barangay Cauplasan in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, which also unanimously endorsed the field trial in a resolution approved last March 7.

Director Clarito Barron of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said that they would continue with the field trials, in compliance with the Department of Agriculture (DA) Administrative Order (AO) No. 8, which states “no regulated article shall be released into the environment for field testing unless a Permit to Field Test has been secured from the BPI, and the regulated article has been tested under contained conditions in the Philippines.”

Bt eggplant had satisfied the conditions required under AO 8. It has undergone contained trials (screenhouse and single location contained field test) under the supervision of the Department of Science and Technology-Biosafety Committee (DOST-BC).

He also said that they would be “fair to all concerned” and expects the field testing to be completed by the end of the year before the proponents can apply for commercialization of the Bt eggplant.

No cogent reason

In all the foregoing cases, the LGUs endorsing the field trials took note of the arguments of oppositors but found no cogent reason to stop the tests.

For the municipal officials of Bay, the weakness of the arguments of the oppositors was noted that led to the withdrawal of the objection to the matter raised by a councilor.

All officials of the Sangguniang Barangay (SB) of Paciano Rizal, Bay, Laguna likewise trumped calls for the cancellation of the field trial of Bt eggplant in the community during its session last February 13.

In its resolution, the SB said it approves and supports the field trial of the fruit and stem borerresistant

(FSBR) Bt eggplant.

The Bay municipal council endorsed the test in a unanimous resolution approved on February 14, three days before Greenpeace mounted a raid on a trial site in the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) located in the municipality.

Bay officials said the conduct of the trial is necessary to determine the benefits that farmers would derive from the tests, but noted the research being undertaken at UPLB is not synonymous with the mass propagation of the genetically modified (GM) vegetable.

Some officials actually withdrew their opposition to the field trial following a presentation by

UPLB experts showing that the research by the UPLB-Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) was necessary to determine the performance of the vegetable and find out if it does not pose any risk to humans and the environment.

Vice Mayor Soriano G. Escueta said all eight councilors, including the president of the Liga ng mga

Barangay (LMB) and the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation (SK Federation), approved

the resolution.

Those who voted to allow the field trial of Bt eggplant were: Councilors Emerson M. Ilagan, Mario M. Ilagan, Leonardo C. Malagno, Alejandro M. Junsay, Maria R. de Leon, Isidro M. Tolentino, LMB president Arthur S. Panopio and SK Federation president Kier Melvin F. Ebron.

Strict biosafety rules

Junsay said the SB was convinced that the field test was covered by strict biosafety rules and closely monitored in compliance with government standards for testing agricultural biotechnology products under DA’s AO 8.

Escueta stressed municipal agriculturist Alexander G. Darvin also endorsed the field trial and added the rules covering biosafety and the commercialization of biotech crops took 10 years to craft and each crop has to pass through seven years of testing before it could be endorsed for commercialization.

He added that a clear benefit to farmers and consumers is that Bt eggplant does not need to be subjected

to treatment with pesticide since the vegetable itself develops its own defenses against fruit and shoot borers (FSBs).

The approval of the field trial of Bt eggplant within the UPLB campus by the Bay SB douses cold water on the attempt of Greenpeace to prevent all seven sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to continue with the field trials.

Greenpeace members, including two Indian nationals, also uprooted two Bt eggplants at the Bay field trial site in a morning raid, with the anti-GMO activists garbed in overalls claiming that what they did was to “decontaminate” the site.

UPLB officials filed criminal charges against the Greenpeace raiders and reminded them that their group had been responsible for contaminating the waters off Pagbilao, Quezon two years ago, when their ship, Rainbow Warrior, discharged untreated bilge water into the bay, raising the fecal coliform count higher by 100 times than the allowable limit.

Argument not convincing

For their part, the entire municipal council of Pili, Camarines Sur was convinced that there was no reason to bar the conduct of the test at the campus of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) at San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur.

Actually, the approval was granted to the CBSUA as early as October 2010, after the Pili Sangguniang Bayan (SB) dumped the petition of Masipag, an organization pushing organic farming, to stop the field trial of Bt eggplant at CBSUA.

In a letter addressed to lawyer and CBSUA president Marito T. Bernales, Pili Vice Mayor Ronaldo T. Boclot said the SB committee on agriculture conducted a hearing to listen to Masipag’s position on

the matter.

“This body (SB), however, after conducting the appropriate committee hearing on the matter with both

Parties having exhaustively presented their respective opinions, noted that the proponent for its suspension failed to present clear proof of the alleged detrimental effects to humans if they eat or consume Bt talong,” Boclot told Bernales.

Boclot noted that CBSUA was “merely undertaking rigid experimentation strictly within the confines of their technical capability” and for this reason, SB found no reason to stop the field trial.

Thus, the vice mayor said, the SB decided to deny the Masipag petition and allowed CBSUA to proceed with the field trial of Bt eggplant.

However, Boclot added, “should a corresponding study show that, indeed, the trial poses health risks and is detrimental to human life, then the CBSUA authorities must stop the trial without waiting for any order from the SB.”

All for it

In the case of Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, Barangay Cauplasan Chairman Benedicto C. Estrada said Resolution No. 06-2011 was approved after a discussion of the merits of the field trial, which

intends to test the propriety of the massive propagation of the plant for the benefit of farmers who are long used to applying pesticide on the vegetable 80 times per cropping season.

Bt egg plant is also under  field trial in six other sites all over the country.

This variety of eggplant possesses genes that produce proteins that kill fruit and shoot borers (FSB.)

FSB is responsible for ruining up to 85 percent of untreated eggplant and Bt eggplant promises to eliminate this threat since it is armed genetically to dispel such attack.

The resolution said the Sangguniang Barangay (SB) “approves and supports the field trial of Bt eggplant,

which is resistant to FSB.”

Among the signatories to the resolution were seven barangay councilmen led by Apolinario C. Estrada. The others were Juanito R. Bueno, David L. Casimero, Marvin D. Matias, Felix G. Tagupa, Louie A. Esteban, Claudito R. Laureno and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairman Jeffrey L. Edrada. Barangay secretary Renato L. Canaveral attested to the veracity of the resolution.

The field test of Bt eggplant in the barangay will be conducted by researchers led by Dr. Lourdes D. Taylo and Reynaldo B. Quilloy ofthe UPLB-IPB.

Lack of proof

All officials of the SB of Paciano Rizal stressed they endorsed the conduct of the field trial following an exhaustive study of the issue and discussions with experts and researchers from UPLB-IPB.

Among the experts who met with SB members were Dr. Desiree Hautea, Dr. Lourdes D. Taylo, Reynaldo B. Quilloy and Silverio T. Torreta.

All the concerns of the barangay leaders were addressed, including concerns about safety and possible risks to the environment and traditional varieties of eggplants.

Barangay Chairman Danilo A. Lansigan signed the resolution along with Kagawads Marivic B. Briones, Arlene DC Carandang, Teodoro M. Cuevas, Macario W. del Valle, Arnel B. Corral, Adelaida M. Bautista, Honorio M. Oboza and Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman Nikko G. de Leus.

Barangay treasurer Lydia M. de Roxas and secretary Romulo M. Carandang also affixed their signatures on the resolution.

The approval of the conduct of the field trial of Bt eggplant in Barangay Paciano Rizal followed the approval of the same experiment by the SB of Barangay Tuntungin-Putho in nearby Los Baños town last February 9.

A day after Barangay Paciano Rizal approved the trial, the municipal council of Bay, Laguna also endorsed the experiment, with nine members signing the resolution.

Heartened

Biotechnologists have been heartened by the approval of the field trials.

At least six Indian scientific institutions have endorsed the massive propagation of Bt egg plant, affirming the fact that the genetically modified (GM) plant had not exhibited any danger to human health and the integrity of traditional eggplant varieties.

Eggplant is an essential element in Indian cuisine and it is the biggest selling vegetable in the Philippines.

In spite of scientific findings which affirm the safety of the plant, Greenpeace and other oppositors have waged a campaign to ban Bt egg plant worldwide after losing out in their bid to stop the commercialization of Bt corn, which was approved for massive cultivation in the Philippines in 2002.