• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental will call for a conference on the proposed genetically modified organisms (GMOs) regulatory ordinance with the proponents and those on the opposing side in the next two weeks.
The development was announced yesterday by Third District Board Member Andrew Montelibano, chairperson of the committee on agriculture, who said the proposed GMO regulatory ordinance is being studied properly by his committee.
Leaders of the Catholic Church and advocates from environment, organic farming, and civil society groups have issued a joint declaration opposing the testing of GMOs in Negros Occidental as outlined in the proposed ordinance.
Three international experts in organic agriculture have individually appealed to the provincial government not to take risks in cultivating GMOs in the province as their planting or growing threatens the island’s food security system, biodiversity, farmers’ seed sovereignty, and its identity as the “Organic Capital of the Philippines.”
The proposed ordinance that would regulate the use of GMOs in the province’s agriculture will destroy 18 years of work that positioned Negros Occidental as a national leader in organic farming, food sovereignty, and ecological sustainability, they added.
The province’s GMO ban ordinance was approved in 2007.
On the other hand, six animal raisers associations in Negros Occidental have issued a joint manifesto expressing support to the lifting of the province’s 18-year-old ban on the GMOs, particularly Bt corn, through the regulatory ordinance.
The Negros Occidental provincial government has affirmed support for the proposed regulatory ordinance, which is intended to harmonize the province’s existing GMO policy with the Joint Department Circular No. 1 released in 2021. | GB
