NGO asks gov't to stop field trial of Bt eggplant

A regional NGO asked the national government to temporarily stop the multi-location field trial of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant until “credible" scientific data on its effects on humans is established. Despite the “lack of credible scientific study, the government still allowed the multi-location trial of Bt eggplant" all over the country, Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) policy officer Jean Yasol-Lugasip said in a press briefing Friday. Together with the NO2GMOs Coalition, SEARICE is appealing to the Health Department to require proponents of Bt eggplant research project to provide evidence that the transgenic crop does not pose hazard to public health. SEARICE is a regional non-government development organization that promotes and implements community-based conservation, development and sustainable use of plant genetic resources in partnership with civil society organizations, government agencies, academic research institutions and local government units in Bhutan, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. “The Filipinos have its own consumption patterns and cooking practices that may lead to the emergence of unintended adverse effects caused by eating Bt eggplant," pointed out Lugasip. The University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) Institute of Plant Breeding, in cooperation with Monsanto’s local seed subsidiary Mahyco, has been conducting field trials of Bt eggplant in Pangasinan, Laguna, Iloilo, Leyte, Davao, and North Cotabato. “If our own government will continue to let the proponents of Bt eggplant — UPLB and Mahyco — undermine our public health interests, the Philippines will be the first to allow its commercialization," said Lugasip. SEARICE has already provided Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala of the overwhelming evidence found by the independent international scientific community. “We call on [the Agriculture Department] to insist that the proponents of Bt eggplant come up with their own technical dossier based on the Philippine conditions," Lugasip said. —JE/OMG, GMANews.TV