NEWSFLASH

MINDANAO FARMERS UPROOT GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) CORN

Cotabato City, Sept. 1, 2001 - Members of the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) uprooted Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn crops in an experimental lot in Tampakan, South Cotabato, on Thursday.

More than 800 farmers, church people and students staged a surprise attack on Monsanto’s Agro-seed field testing site in barangay Maltana, Tampacan town, in protest against field trials of genetically modified (GM) corn.

Greg Alvarez, secretary-general of the KMP Far Eastern Mindanao chapter, said, “They [farmers] slashed, uprooted and trampled the Bt and non-Bt corn plants inside the lot within three minutes.”

There was no report that the farmers were stopped by authorities. Alvarez said those who participated were organized peasants and small landowners, who have practiced sustainable agriculture for years.

“They [farmers] were not able to control their emotional outburst,” Alvarez said in a statement posted in the Internet, adding that the farmers were fired up by warnings from “concerned scientists and peasant leaders” about the hazards of the GM corn to health and its threat to biodiversity.

He said that the GM corn “was nothing but a ploy of agrochemical transnational companies [TNCs] to satisfy their monopoly on seeds.” “We thank the militant farmers for their spontaneous reaction that brought the final end of Bt corn in Maltana, Tampakan, South Cotabato,” he said.

The first field trial of GM corn was done in Lagao, General Santos City, last year.

Alvarez said that it is hoped that the uprooting of the Bt corn “will set the pace for more direct action against agrochemical TNCs and field trials of genetically engineered crops all over the country.”

KMP chairman Rafael Mariano said, “The uprooting of Bt corn in Mindanao serves a strong political message against greedy agrochemical TNCs like Mon-santo and the Arroyo government, which sanctioned field trials of Bt corn, in particular, and the release of genetically modified organisms (GMO) into environment, in general.”

Mariano said the “illegal” field testings were pushed through without approval from appropriate authority and despite opposition from farmers, church leaders and local government officials of the provinces.

“The National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP) illegally approved the country’s first-ever multilocation field testing, which includes the planting and harvesting of Bt corn in over 10 sites, such as the provinces of Isabela, Bukidnon, Camarines Sur, South Cotabato and Pangasinan. It does not have the mandate to approve such testing applications,” he noted.

At the same time, Monsanto Philippines Inc. denounced the uprooting of Bt corn plants in South Cotabato, saying it is mulling the filing of legal action against the farmers, who, it said, conducted a “violent” act.

“This is a criminal act that totally disregarded the approval issued by the NCBP, the govern- ment regulatory agency tasked with overseeing the conduct of field tests for GMOs in the Philippines,” Monsanto said in a statement.

It alleged that the “mob” has effectively prevented scientific research from answering questions that the opponents of biotechnology are raising.

“It has also deprived farmers the choice to assess the technology based on its merits and demerits. Corn farmers have re- mained our staunchest supporters in the conduct of the Bt corn trials. By having the trials, they can determine if biotechnology will be beneficial to them or not,” Monsanto said.

Meanwhile, in support of the peasants, party-list group Bayan Muna will file a bill that will prohibit all field testing of GM crops and ban the entry of all GM crops and food products.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said his group “is calling for an immediate stop to all field testing of GM crops, including Bt corn, because of the hazards they pose to human health, environment and agriculture.”

He said communities and farms near test sites face real danger of contamination from toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiencis.

Ocampo noted that he will coordinate with Marikina Rep. Del de Guzman, who earlier filed a bill in Congress seeking the mandatory labeling of food products containing GMOs. (Today)