GMOs and their Implications on the Filipino Peoples' Food Security

UNSAFE AND INSECURE: GMOs and their Implication on the

Filipino People’s Food Security

2nd Round Table Conference on Asia-Pacific Food Safety Governance7 November 2014

Renmin University of China Law School, Beijing, China

LORELEI BEYER

Outline of the Presentation

Food Security vs. Hunger

Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the Philippines

Philippine Policies in Relation to GMOs

Filipino Farmers’ Experience in a Decade with GM Corn

Upholding Right to Food: People’s Actions

Conclusions, Challenges and Ways Forward

Food Security vs. Hunger

Hunger in the World

Hunger in the Philippines

Number of Hungry

Year2000

SWS -March 2014

SWS –September2014

Families 2.5 M 3.9 M 9.3 million families say they are food-poor4.18 million families have experienced involuntary hunger in the past 3 months

Population 15 M 23.4 M

Filipino Indigenous peoples invariably experience seasonal to chronic food shortages (TFIP Research )

• Chronic food shortages are experienced during natural calamities, more particularly during typhoons , dry spells

• Tumandok of Panay and Dumagat of Quezon eat only twice a day

• Talaandig of Bukidnon in Mindanao are dependent on occasional labor for survival

• Malnutrition is highest in indigenous communities in the country, especially among the children.

Food security exists when all people, atall times, have physical and economicaccess to sufficient, safe and nutritiousfood that meets their dietary needs andfood preferences for an active andhealthy life.- 1996 World Food Summit

FIVE MAJOR PRE-CONDITIONS a. Availability of sufficient food b. Stability of food supply c. Accessibility of foodd. Fair and equitable distribution of food /resources e. Quality of food and nutrition

Food Security does not only talk of

availability and sufficiency of food.

Moreover, it requires that

food should be safe and nutritious.

When addressing these concerns on food security, it is inevitable

that we look into the sector that provides food for the country –

AGRICULTURE.

Food Security and Agriculture

Now, how do GMOs come in?

Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the Philippines

From Green Revolution…

1970s- Hosted the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)- Agriculture Programs (Masagana 99 and Masaganang Maisan)- Traditional varieties to high- yielding varieties (HYV). - Rampant use of chemical-based farm inputs required by these varieties

…to Gene Revolution

Late 1990s- Introduction of Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)

Early 2000s- Bacillus thuringiensis corn (Bt corn)- Round up Ready corn (RR corn)

Late 2000s- Bacillus thuringiensis eggplant (Bt eggplant)- Golden Rice / Vitamin A Rice

Currently, there are sixty-seven (67) GMO crops approved for food, feed

or for processing.

Eight (8) of these are regulated GM corn varieties approved for

propagation, while approved for direct importation are 59 GM crops

including soybean, corn, potato, cotton, alfalfa, canola and sugar beet.

Aside from these, 13 GMOs are approved for field testing.

Philippine Policies in Relation to GMOs

1990 – Executive Order 430 (EO 430): -- Created the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP)

1991 – First Edition of the Philippine Biosafety Guidelines (PBG)

2002 – Department of Agriculture- Administrative Order 8 (DAO 8)-- appoints its Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) to regulate field trials and propagation and commercial release of GMOs

2006 – Executive Order 514 (EO 514): National Biosafety Framework

2010 – Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act

2013 – Republic Act 10611 or the Food Safety Act

Relevant Laws

Related Issues

No GMO Labeling Law.

Regulatory agencies as clearing houses.

No mechanisms to assess the safety of these GMOs on the environment and

on human and animal health.

Government agencies are clueless as to their particular role in the assessment and regulation of GMOs

Enforcement of liberalized agriculture, thereby opening the agriculture sector for market-oriented and

corporation-controlled systems and mechanisms

Filipino Farmers’ Experience in a Decade with GM Corn

2013 Study by IBON Foundation and MASIPAG

on the Socio-Economic Impacts of GM corn

Results:

Sales agents of biotech companies, with the facilitation by

personnel of municipal agriculture offices, play a big role

in the introduction and continued market of the GM corn

crops. Likewise, big corporations and financier-traders are

at the helm of the whole production and trading process.

Farmers were NOT given adequate information as to the

possible ill-effects of the GM crop.

Farmers are in huge debt to financier-traders because planting GM corn has resulted to

a negative income.

Farmers lose their lands and traditional seeds due to indebtedness to traders and

financiers.

Impact on the environment includes

1) loss of biodiversity

2) emergence of super pests and weeds

3) wide-scale infestation of a plant disease

4) soil infertility

5) increasing soil erosion and landslides.

Increased incidence of food insecurity due to biodiversity loss and lower

income

Effects on health

- stomach pains and diarrhea

- shortness of breath, chest pains and coughing

- itching and yellowing of skin, skin allergies

- numbing of lips and tongue after eating GM corn.

- increased incidence of asthma attacks among children

- traces of the Bt toxin (Cry1Ac) in the blood serum

Upholding Right to Food: People’s Actions

Campaigns and Advocacy

Raising the awareness and increasing the capacity of farmers and the general public

- Farmers’ rights- Current and emerging issues related to GMOs

Lobbying at the local and national levels- Have resulted in eight (8) provinces or towns with local legislations that ban GMOs

Protest actions

Promotion and Use of Sustainable Agriculture

and Community-based Appropriate Technologies

Diversified and Integrated Farming System (DIFS)

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Appropriate Technologies

(Water catchment, micro-irrigation, micro-hydro energy

for post-harvest facilities, multi-grain dryer and mills)

Among Indigenous Peoples

Strengthening or revitalization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) and Customary Laws in natural resource management System of mutual help among kin and community-members,

(sawit of the Erumanen ne Menuvu, and the ub-ubbo and innabuyogof the Igorot)

Reducing wastage (ayyew of the Igorot and kulipog of the Erumanen) Community seed banks Lampisa water management system Holok natural pest management system

Integration of IKSPs in non-formal, indigenous community schools

Use of Legal Remedies

Writ of Kalikasan and Temporary Environmental Protection Order

Writ of Continuing Mandamus

Militant Actions

Uprooting of Bt Corn in Tampakan, South Cotabato in 2002

Uprooting of Golden Rice in Bicol in 2013

Conclusions, Challenges and Ways Forward

Is GMO the way to go? The answer is NO!

The experience of Filipino farmers and other sectors has shown that:

1) GMOs pose serious health risks to humans and animals and endanger the

environment.

2) They are not safe for food or feed

3) They did not help in increasing productivity and income of farmers.

Clearly, GMOs are not the way to go if we want to achieve food security.

What now?

We continually call on the Philippine government to:1) Terminate all GMO field tests and recall GM seeds or

products in the market;

2) Fulfill the people’s right to information. Inform thepublic, especially the farmers, on the effects of GMOsfor them to have an informed decision. Enact policiesthat will compel corporations to label seeds andproducts containing GMOs.

3) Review government processes and guidelines onregulation and monitoring of GMOs in the country.

4) Promote Sustainable Agriculture and farmer-ledbreeding to ensure food for farmers, improve theirlivelihood and reclaim their control over seeds andtechnology.

What next?

Lobby for the enactment of the GMO Labelling bill and the

GMO-free Agriculture Bill

Farmers should continually strengthen their ranks and build

their capacities to struggle for genuine agrarian reform and

assert their rights to food, land and resources.

Support organizations of scientists, professionals and

advocates should sustain campaigns against GMOs and

back farmer-led technology improvements that will help in

addressing food security concerns of the people.

Maraming salamat po.