LETTER TO THE EDITOR

NO GMOs - Hunger Strike
24 April 2003

Last Tuesday, an anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) group commenced an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Department of Agriculture building to pressure the government to declare a moratorium on the commercialization of Bt-corn in the country. The commercialization of Bt-corn was approved last year through Administrative Order No. 8. MASIPAG, a farmer-led network working towards the sustainable use and management of biodiversity, is joining the Networks Opposed to GMOs (NO GMOs) in its protest.

MASIPAG believes that these promises being offered by the application of genetic engineering in food and agriculture should be taken with caution. several scientific debates are still going on, with scientists pitted against one another, divided in the highly controversial issue of whether GE is safe and beneficial to mankind.

For the Filipino peasant, questions such as who controls the technology, including the products derived from it and who will benefit from it determine the usefulness of any technology. For the 20,000 farmers being represented by MASIPAG, there are several concerns being raised.

1. safety and economic viability -There are not enough feeding tests on animals and humans to assure that GMOs are as safe as their proponents claim them to be.
2. worsening genetic erosion - GMOs will create large monocultures depended on a few varieties. It will likely be promoted as a package of technologies that will displace local and traditional varieties.
3. increase in the cost of seeds and other farm inputs - GMO seeds will cost more since they are patented. Patenting will prevent seed saving and exchange among farmers and even local breeding efforts, which is part of the culture and tradition of farming communities. GMOs will still need other inputs since it targets only a specific pest, disease or desired quality. There is also the threat of the so-called "terminator seeds" and seeds which can only be activated with the use of other inputs, thereby reinforcing dependency on agro-chemical TNCs.
4. Threat of genetic contamination/pollution of organic farms and local varieties - Farmers who have chosen to grow crops organically can be contaminated by adjacent farms who grow GMOs. Even the slightest contamination is rejected by the world market, so organic farmers are at the risk of losing their the large market for organic products.
5. GMOs will only worsen pest problems in the field - Large-scale monocropping increases the incidence of pests due to the increased rates of developing pest resistance.
6. GMOs will reduce the number of small farm and favor corporate farming - Small farmers who cannot cope with the increased cost of production and market losses will be forced to sell their lands or convert it to other uses, thereby compromising local food security.

In the Philippine context, farmers are asserting that there is no need for GMOs and are even contesting the validity of the promises being offered by the technology:

· GMOs cannot solve the problem of FOOD SECURITY

The real root of food insecurity is much deeper than problems in production, and addressing the problems of production are not anchored on solving a few of its symptoms. Not only is production the issue but of food safety, affordability and accessibility.

· There is no real NEED

In the attempt to solve apparent problems in the farmers' fields, genetic engineering isolates the problem from the system where the production takes place. It has created an illusion of need and has failed to recognize the presence of safe and effective alternatives already being done in the field.

· GMOs do not give higher yields and income

Studies have shown that under normal field conditions, the performance of GM crops are either equal to or even lower than their conventional counterparts. But even if GMOs were to perform better, the market has already rejected GMOs.

As a viable alternative to GMOs, MASIPAG focuses on the promotion sustainable agriculture. MASIPAG farmers boast of their yields produced organically which are even higher than the national average using conventional farming methods. The average yield of organically grown rice in MASIPAG is 3.8 tons/ha, with some farmers yielding up to 5 or 6 tons/ha, while the national average is just 3.2 tons/ha. MASIPAG's work on plant genetic conservation and breeding has likewise enriched biodiversity. To date, there are 668 farmer traditional varieties recovered from the brink of genetic erosion and 538 farmer bred selections. Proving even without the use of GMOs, farmers have a means of producing safe, clean and nutritious food in a manner which is profitable for them.

The commercialization of Bt-corn does not and will never be beneficial to the small Filipino farmers; it only serves the interest of the big, deceitful transnational corporations. We must work together to guard ourselves against the trojan horse in our midst and lobby for our right to safe, clean and nutritious food. We must, therefore, assert for a technology that will serve the needs of our farmers. Stop Bt-corn commercialization NOW!