March 6, 2007

Philippine government urged to ban GM seeds
 

Philippine congressman and senatorial aspirant Francis Escudero raised warnings about the possible spread of genetically modified (GM) crops in the country, saying it could pose risk to people.

According to local newspaper Malaya, Escudero said he is joining the call of farmer's groups and other non-government organisations for the government to ban the entry of genetically engineered rice and corn and prohibit growing of such crops in the country

Escudero has questioned the safety of genetically modified wheat and rice to human health, which he says, has no difference in appearance but definitely contains a genetic material that "was not there before".

On the surface, according to Escudero, the reason advanced for the development of GM seeds is laudable. It boosts harvest and makes plants harder and more resistant to disease and drought for one thing.

But Escudero said the long-term effects on people and animals who consume the crops are not yet known.

Though biotech expert say there is nothing new about biotech revolution that underpins genetic engineering but merely accelerates improvement of plants through selective breeding that takes a thousand years to process, Escudero said the process is doubtful as "mankind was given no time to adapt to the change".

He said once GM plants gain entry to the country, they could breed with and profoundly change traditional varieties. He noted that field trials conducted in the US and Great Britain proved beyond the shadow of doubt that gene transfer does occur among major food crops.

The senatorial candidate also said he shares the concerns of activists who claim that GM plants could lead to monopoly, noting that biotech firms protect their bioengineered seeds with patents.

A farmer in Canada was prosecuted and convicted for growing GM plants, although he claimed he had merely planted seeds from traditional varieties altered by cross-breeding with plants from a neighbouring farm.

It has been proved that like those coming from traditional varieties, pollens from GM plants are carried by the wind for tens of kilometres.