People of the Philippines standing up against GMOs

A NETWORK of farmers from Masipag, scientists and non-government organizations (NGOs) practicing sustainable agriculture and genetic conservation have aired their support to Negros Occidental provincial government on the issue of banning the entry of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)-infected crops to the province.

The group said: "GMOs will not achieve food security."

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"We strongly support the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental in upholding a safe and healthy life and environment," said Georie Pitong, regional coordinator of Masipag-Visayas.

"We laud the province's declaration of organic promotion in 2006, and the ban on GMO is a significant step towards achieving that status. However, this is now being threatened by the move to overturn the ordinance banning GMOs to accommodate the businesses of livestock companies," he added.

Pitong doubted the claims of some businessmen that banning the entry of GMO corn to Negros would cause shortage in livestock feeds and meat sources.

"We believe that GMOs will not address food insecurity or solve world hunger," Pitong said. He added: "The technology is besieged by controversial issues that have yet to be resolved."

The farmer's network said that "scientific evidences of the negative effects of GMOs on health and the environment are being exposed one after the other, yet proponents have been dismissing the calls for more tests and risks assessments."

"The contamination of GM with non-GM crops is an alarming issue that does occur and destroys the organic farmers' fields, products and livelihoods. Farmers' planting GMOs have higher costs of production while the harvest is just comparable to the non-GM crops," the group said.

"Poor farmers incur huge debts from skyrocketing interest rates by local usurers while the giant transnational corporations continue to rake in profits. Consumers' right to safe food is violated as well as the right to information due to the lack of labeling of GM products," the group added.

Masipag farmers, meanwhile, said "organic and sustainable agriculture have served to improve our production that secure our food and uplift our lives."

For more than 20 years, more than 35,000 small farmer-members of Masipag from the different provinces in the Philippines have been practicing sustainable agriculture (SA).

The SA principles of chemical-free and ecologically-sound farming systems have proved to be effective in achieving food security among the poor farmers and their communities, Masipag said.

"The livestock raisers should accept that all over the world, there is increasing recognition and growing evidence of the benefits of SA and organic agriculture while GMOs are being rejected by different governments," the group said.