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Named after a World War II battle in the South
Pacific, the USS Peleliu is in the Philippines on what is officially
described as a goodwill mission, which will take it to Bicol and
Mindanao.
Technically, the USS Peleliu is
described as a 39,438-ton Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship
bristling with state of the art weapons systems, including over
two-dozen helicopters.
Hours after the US warship
dropped anchor at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor, newsmen and
other locals were able to get a look of this formidable warship up
close last Monday.
Launched in 1978, the Peleliu has
seen action in the Middle East and Afghanistan although it is no
stranger to Philippine waters.
In June 1991, while returning
from Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, the Peleliu helped
evacuate US personnel from Subic Bay in the aftermath of the
eruption of Mount Pinatubo.
The volcanic explosion, the
word’s largest in a hundred years, expedited the withdrawal of US
military forces from the Philippines, which resulted in a cooling of
RP-US ties.
The rise of Islamist terrorism,
however, has caused bilateral relations—especially military
cooperation—to become stronger once more. The visit of the Peleliu
is yet another sign of heightened RP-US collaboration.
Pinoys onboard
Further cementing the alliance is
the presence of about 150 Filipinos and Americans of Filipino
descent serving on the Peleliu. Most of them are enlisted personnel,
like Petty Officer 2nd Class Julius Coloma, a native of Laoag,
Ilocos Norte.
Coloma enlisted in the US Navy
seven years ago and has been serving on the Peleliu since 2004. In
fact, he said, Filipinos play a key role in keeping this war vessel
ship shape.
Of the seven master chief petty
officers (the highest “rate” or rank for enlisted personnel in
the US Navy), five are Pinoys, Coloma said.
A medical corpsman from
Connecticut named Rick Martins wondered aloud: With so many
Filipinos aboard the Peleliu and other US Navy vessels, why do they
not sign up for the Philippine Navy?
Good question but this Yankee
evidently still has a lot to learn—especially the wide disparity
in pay, benefits and working conditions between his Navy and ours.
Docked beside the Peleliu was a
Costa Rican-flagged cruise ship full of foreign tourists. Many of
its crewmen are Filipinos, too.
Tens of thousands of Filipinos
sail the seven seas either as merchant mariners or as rates in
foreign fleets. Yet our own Navy does not have the wherewithal to
fully secure the country’s territorial waters—much less venture
beyond them.
Potentially toxic corn
Another genetically modified (GM)
corn variety, approved for food, feed, processing and propagation in
the Philippines, has been shown by studies to be potentially toxic
to humans.
The new research—carried out by
the Comité de Recherche et d’Information Indépendantes sur le
génie Genétique (CRIIGEN), a French scientific
institute—involves biotech firm Monsanto’s NK603 GMO corn.
NK603 is marketed commercially
under the name Round-up Ready, which was approved as food and feed
in the country in 2003, and for propagation in 2005.
The scientific study released
last week highlights 60 significant differences between laboratory
rats fed with the GMO corn NK603 and those fed with normal corn for
90 days.
The first group showed
differences in their kidney, brain, heart and liver measurements, as
well as significant weight differences that may be potential warning
signs of toxicity.
In a press statement, Daniel
Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia genetic engineering campaigner,
said: “This new study on the GMO corn NK603 shows that the
scientific evidence on dangerous GMO health risks is piling up.”
Ocampo added: “It also shows
that the current system that evaluates the safety of GMOs cannot be
trusted. Greenpeace is demanding that the Department of Agriculture
immediately withdraw this and other GMOs from the market and revoke
their approval, as well as enact a moratorium on all other GMO
approvals.”
Last March a similar study
concluded that another Monsanto GMO corn, MON863, also approved as
food in the Philippines, was potentially harmful to humans too.
According to Greenpeace, the
latest study has cast further doubt on the approval process of GMOs.
The environmental group is demanding an immediate market withdrawal
and a moratorium on GMO approvals.
The DA has been under heavy
criticism over its decision to retain the approval of the said GMO
corn MON863, which was proven to have adverse effects on the liver
and kidneys of mammals.
The DA has publicly committed to
a reevaluation of the GMO but no disclosure has been made so far
regarding developments in its assessment.
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