Prov’l executives defend proposed ordinance allowing entry of GMOs in province

Officials of Negros Occidental’s provincial government defended the proposed ordinance allowing the entry and development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the province, following opposition from various sectors allied with the organic agriculture movement.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said in an interview that the personalities listed as signatories in the “Declaration against GMO Testing in Negros Occidental” have engagements with the province.

“These are people who work with us and have been benefiting from the support of the provincial government, and I think we deserve to be treated fairly before condemning us,” he added.

Diaz said he thinks the reaction of the group is premature since a public hearing will still be held on Sept. 9.

The proposed ordinance, which was certified as urgent by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, was approved in first reading during the Provincial Board’s regular session on Tuesday.

It is titled, “An ordinance providing for the rules and guidelines on the research, development, handling, use and transboundary movement, release into the environment, and management of genetically modified organisms (GMO) within the territorial jurisdiction of the Province of Negros Occidental, and for other purposes.”

This contradicts Ordinance 07, passed in 2017, prohibiting the entry, importation, introduction, planting, growing, selling, and trading of GMO plants and animals in Negros Occidental.

However, Diaz said Negros Occidental has “nothing to show for it” after 18 years of being a GMO-free province.
“Eighteen years, we have devoted the province’s lands exclusively to organic. Has it fed all of you? Has it fed the poor? Has it supported our food security? Are we near the name ‘organic basket of Southeast Asia’?” he asked.

Diaz said the province continues to strengthen support for organic agriculture practices, but will not close its doors to those who will not practice organic farming.

“Why be so selfish? Why not support other industries. Again, this is for food security. We don’t know what will happen, especially when wars break out, when pandemics break out. We have to be self-sufficient. We had our reality check during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.

Third District Board Member Andrew Montelibano, chairperson of the committee on environment, said the opposition aired by the multisectoral group is a “preemptive strike.”

“I have been supporting them in the allocation for organic agriculture budget,” he added.

Among the 22 signatories in the declaration are Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, Fr. Julius Espinosa of Caritas Bacolod Social Action Foundation, Edgardo Uychiat of the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Foundation, and Ramon Uy Jr. of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.

“Negros Occidental is globally recognized as the Organic Agriculture Capital of the Philippines. For decades, it has stood as a beacon of organic farming, food sovereignty, and sustainable rural development,” the advocates from the religious, civil society, and organic agriculture sectors said.

They added that “allowing GMO testing within the island not only contradicts its long-standing identity as a GMO-free zone, but also places at risk the integrity of organic systems painstakingly built by farmers, local governments, and civil society.”* (Nanette
Guadalquiver/PNA)