More than 50 international organic organizations have expressed strong solidarity with the GMO-Free Negros Coalition in their escalating protest against the entry of living genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into Negros Occidental.
This significant backing comes as the province’s legislative body considers a new regulatory ordinance that would repeal the existing 18-year-old GMO ban, as provided for under Provincial Ordinance No. 07, Series of 2007 (The Safeguard Against Living Genetically Modified Organisms).
In a statement on Wednesday (Sept. 17), Edgardo Uychiat, a World Board Member of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Organics International, said the international support came while he was attending the ongoing 8th Organic Asia Congress in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam.
Running from Sept. 17 to 19, the congress themed “Organics for A Better Future” gathers policymakers, experts, researchers, farmers, businesses, and organic advocates from across Asia.
Aside from Uychiat, other delegates from the Philippines are Ramon Uy Jr., Board member of IFOAM Organics Asia, and Bernadette San Juan, director of the National Organic Agriculture Program of the Department of Agriculture.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Organic Congress, IFOAM Organics Asia president Mathew John, said, “Negros Island’s identity over the last two decades that I have known about them has been that it’s been a GMO-free island. It has built a strong name for itself in the world of organic agriculture, and in two years’ time we will be having the Organic World Congress there (in 2027). I think that’s a great honor for Negros Island.”
“What has happened over the last few weeks when the issue of GMOs has come up, I think it’s a pity that after building up such a strong identity and a strong statement to the rest of the world, we are having a space where GMOs is now diluting the strength of organic agriculture,” he added.
John said that “people from Negros Island, the Philippines, and from around the world should share their concerns against living GMOs because it will destroy the diversity, richness, and culture of the people, and in the case of Negros Island, people will struggle to build back and revive their organic agriculture gains”.
This influx of global support coincides with intensifying local protests against the proposed Negros Occidental GMO Regulatory Ordinance, which critics say will undermine the province’s reputation as the “Organic Capital of the Philippines” and “Organic Food Bowl of Southeast Asia”. ||
