The supreme court has issued a writ of kalikasan to the Department of Agriculture as well as farm-related agencies and institutions, ordering them to answer a petition by environment protection advocates to stop field tests on genetically modified eggplant in several areas in the country.
The writ, promulgated by the full court on May 2, ordered the respondents — the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority of the Agriculture department; the Environment department’s Environmental Management Bureau; the University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation, Inc (UPLBFI); UP Mindanao Foundation, Inc (UPMFI); and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications-Southeast Asia Center (ISAAA) — “to make a verified return of the Writ of Kalikasan before this Court within a non-extendible period of 10 days.”
At least one respondent, BPI, received a copy of the Supreme Court issuance just last Friday.
According to the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, a verified return of writ should include respondents’ arguments and evidence supporting their claim that they did not commit any act threatening or resulting in environmental damage.
The petition — filed last April 26 by environmentalist group Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Bayan Muna party-list Rep Teodoro A Casiño, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward SHagedorn, composer Noel Cabangon, Magsasaka at Siyentipiko sa Pagpapaunlad ng Agrikultura, and 12 others — sought to stop testing and registering the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant as a herbicidal product.
The petitioners noted that Bt eggplant has genes that have been altered by including a bacterium that makes the variety able to resist several pests.
They argued, however, that there is a lack of studies proving such genetically modified organisms are safe for consumption and the environment in the long term.
The Bt eggplant is currently being tested in Camarines Sur, Davao City, Iloilo, Isabela, Laguna, Leyte, North Cotabato, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan.
In the writ, the high court further directed petitioners to “comply, within five days from notice hereof, with the requirement that the petition be accompanied with a clearly legible duplicate original or certified true copy of the assailed Memorandum of Undertaking” (MoU).
In their complaint, the petitioners had referred to the MoU entered into by UPLBFI, UPMFI and ISAAA in September 2010, aiming to develop pest-resistant eggplants that would be commercially viable.
The Supreme Court further ordered the petitioners to provide the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) a copy of their petition within five days.
Sought for comment, BPI Director Clarito Barron said his office received the order on Friday last week and is preparing its response.
“The next thing we will do is make a communication stating what the bases and duties are of the BPI with regards to the implementation of the field trial of Bt eggplant,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.
“On or before May 21, we will already send that affidavit to the OSG,” Mr. Barron said.
The government, often in cooperation with foreign institutions, has been supporting research and development of crop varieties that are resistant to pests, as well as to drought and floods, as part of efforts to improve the country’s food security.
