CLARK FREEPORT – Groups opposed to genetically modified (GM) Golden Rice vowed to uproot such plantations planned in Nueva Ecija and Isabela by PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
The anti-GM groups Global Action against Golden Rice, Resist Agrochem TNCs Network (RESIST) and the agri-scientist group Masipag said they have joined the “broad calls” against the field testing of Golden Rice in the Philippines and instead urged the government to push “genuine agrarian reform and the development of the domestic rice industry to address the rice problem.”
“Over the years, we have thoroughly proved that Golden Rice is not really intended to augment the so-called Vitamin A defi ciency among Filipino children. Golden Rice is being pushed in the Philippines by big, foreign agro-corporations for profi t,” Masipag national coordinator Cris Panerio said in a statement.
Panerio said “Golden Rice was genetically engineered to express beta-carotene, a pre-cursor to Vitamin A, to supposedly combat Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among children and mothers particularly in developing countries such as the Philippines.”
“However, even the US Food and Drug Administration has stated that the level of beta- carotene in Golden Rice is too low to warrant a nutrient content claim, thus reflecting the failure and futility of Golden Rice to address malnutrition and VAD,” he said.
Panerio noted that “then and now, the Golden Rice remains an unnecessary crop that will only render farmers and consumers vulnerable to possible health and economic risks” as he noted “a glaring lack of reliable and independent studies to determine the long-term effects of this genetically modifi ed rice.”
Antonio Flores, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), recalled that on Aug. 8 2013, about 400 farmers led by the KMP-Bicol and farmer-scientists belonging to Masipag and anti-GM advocates uprooted Golden Rice seedlings in a trial farm in Pili, Camarines Sur.
He said that again this year, “the PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute are fast tracking the processes for the field testing of Golden Rice in Nueva Ecija and Isabela, known rice-producing provinces in Luzon.”
“If this pushes through, we will again pull out the plantations,” he warned.
“Instead of forcing Golden Rice into our agriculture, the government must protect and support traditional rice varieties developed by farmers,” Flores added.
For its part, Resist said it “will continue to oppose the trial, commercialization and consumption of Golden Rice in the Philippines.”
