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Environmentalists have won a legal skirmish in their
campaign to stop the propagation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Last week Branch 101 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court granted
an application filed by Greenpeace and other groups for a temporary
restraining order against the genetically modified rice Bayer LL62.
In her TRO, RTC Judge Evangeline
Castillo Marigomen directed the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and
the Department of Agriculture (DA) from approving the application of
Bayer Crop Science Inc. to introduce LL62 rice as food, feed or for
processing in the Philippines.
“With the unfavorable
publications and debates these genetically modified organisms have
spawned, it is but prudent that the approval…of the application of
[Bayer] be restrained in the meantime considering that rice is a
staple on the dining table of the Filipinos,” Judge Marigomen
said.
The TRO recuses the DA secretary
and BPI from approving the application for LL62 for food, feed and
processing for 20 days before the start of hearings for the petition
for preliminary injunction, set for September 14.
This is the first TRO in
connection with a GMO issued by a court in the Philippines.
The injunction petition, which
Greenpeace filed August 23, questions the lack of public voice and
public consultation on GMO approvals by DA and BPI, particularly in
the case of Bayer LL62’s application.
“Greenpeace believes that the
pending application of a genetically-altered rice to be used for
food, feed, and processing in our country is a very serious issue of
public concern,” said Daniel Ocampo, the environment group’s
genetic engineering campaigner in Southeast Asia. “If the
application is approved, the entry of GMO rice in our country will
irrevocably alter the future of our most important staple food.”
Ocampo added: “We have filed
the petition because we believe that this application will put our
rice under further control of greedy corporate interests. With this
petition we are reminding the DA and the BPI to uphold their mandate
to ensure that our rice supply is safe both to the environment and
human health.”
At the Quezon City RTC Greenpeace
was represented by lawyer Theodore Te.
Greenpeace contends that the
approval process for GMOs is unconstitutional, violating Article 2,
Sections 16 and 17, and Article 3, Section 7, of the 1987
Constitution (right to health, right to a healthful ecology, and
right to information on matters of public concern, respectively).
Among the grounds cited in the
petition are:
1. The “public consultation”
requirements under DA Administrative Order 8 are grossly
insufficient and violate the minimum standards set by the 1987
Constitution in recognizing the right of the people to matters of
public concern under Article 3, Section 7.
2. The pro forma requirement on
public consultation in DA A.O. 8 impairs the policy set in A.O. 8
itself to guarantee protection to health and the environment,
consistent with the constitutional guarantees under Article 2,
Sections 16 and 17.
3. Unless restrained by the
courts, with the mere publication of Bayer’s Public Information
Sheet (PIS) on the GMO rice LL62 as the sole requirement under A.O.
8 to indicate the conduct of public consultation, there is no
“legal” obstacle that would prevent the DA and the BPI from
approving GMO rice Bayer LL62 for direct use in feed, food and for
processing.
Bayer LL62 is rice whose DNA has
been injected with genetic material from an entirely different
organism to resist glufosinate, a powerful weed killer also produced
by Bayer, which is meant to be used in conjunction with the rice
crop. Bayer filed an application with the BPI in August last year
for the approval of its GMO rice in the Philippines.
Greenpeace has repeatedly
requested the BPI for official information regarding the
application. However, the DA and BPI have been quiet, stating only
that it is under review and that Bayer has “complied” with the
requirement to submit a PIS under DA A.O. 8.
To date, there has been no
substantial disclosure by the BPI or DA to the public regarding the
application and the actual status of the application.
If approved, Bayer LL62 will be
the first genetically modified rice in the Philippines. The
Philippines will also be the first country in the world to approve a
genetically altered strain of its most important staple food crop.
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