Pili town council junks plea to stop GMO eggplant field trial

The municipal council of Pili, Camarines Sur, has junked the petition of an organic farming group to stop the field trial for genetically-modified (GMO) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant variety at a local college campus. Pili Vice Mayor Ronaldo Boclot said in a letter to lawyer Marito Bernales, president of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) in San Jose, Pili. Boclot said the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) had considered the plea of the farmer-scientist group Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag), but ruled that the group “failed to show and present clear proof of the alleged detrimental effects to humans if they eat or consume Bt talong (eggplant)." “However, should a corresponding study… show that, indeed, the trial poses health risks and is detrimental to human life, then the CBSUA authorities must stop the trial without waiting for any order from the SB," the vice mayor said. Calls for a moratorium Despite having their plea junked, Masipag will continue lobbying against Bt eggplants, the group’s information officer Eloisa Bosito said in an interview with GMA News Online. Bosito reiterated her group’s stand to call for a moratorium on field trials of Bt eggplants, whose impact on public health remains unclear in the Philippine setting. “Huwag na nating hintayin na may mangyaring masama (Let’s not wait until something bad happens)," she said. International studies show that Bt eggplants pose hazards to its consumers’ digestive system and other internal organs, according to the Masipag official. She said the Philippines has not produced “credible" studies on the eggplant variety’s impact on the human body. The Pili government should have held public consultations to inform the public about the risks of Bt talong field trials — more than just posting a written notice at the municipal hall, Bosito said. Another non-government organization — Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) — had also called for a halt in field trials of Bt eggplants. “The Filipinos have [their] own consumption patterns and cooking practices that may lead to the emergence of unintended adverse effects caused by eating Bt eggplant," SEARICE policy officer Jean Lugasip said. — With a report by Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News