Anakpawis has filed House Bill No. 5990, proposing the repeal of Presidential Decree 1620 that conferred international status to IRRI which was effectively given immunity from any kind of lawsuit.”
“IRRI virtually made the entire country its laboratory, yet it cannot be held accountable for the adverse effects of its products because of the decree which should have been repealed a long time ago,” Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said in a statement.
The bill noted that “Fifty-five years (since it was founded), IRRI cannot at all claim that it has actually done anything that could positively be considered as a contribution to the food security of the Philippines or of other poor and agricultural countries.”
“IRRI has not served its purpose as even in the last State-of-the-Nation address of Pres. Aquino, the government had failed to achieve rice self-sufficiency and the country still remains dependent on imports,” Hicap said.
He said “IRRI symbolizes how foreign entities exploit Philippine agriculture and the people. IRRI is known to be funded by Ford and Rockefeller foundations and has for its partners several giant agro-chemical giants such as Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto.”
The proposed HB 5990 said IRRI “has been abusing its international status through its seemingly endless list of violations of its workers’ rights to organize, to collectively bargain and negotiate, and to hold strikes.”
Hicap said “IRRI has carried out mass lay-offs, unfair dismissal of regular employees, and the policy of union busting.”
“IRRI workers have always failed to redress their grievances because the institute is immune from lawsuit. Because of this, they could not even demand just compensation for illnesses caused by their exposure to dangerous chemicals used by IRRI in its experiments,” he lamented.
“Repeal of the decree is just the first step, because we want IRRI out of the country,” he added.
