ILOILO CITY — The municipality of Sta. Barbara in Iloilo has stopped the testing of genetically modified eggplants.
In a resolution passed on Oct. 6, the Sta. Barbara municipal council suspended the field testing of the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplants in barangays Tungay and Lanag.
Sta. Barbara, 16 km northwest of Iloilo City, is the first local government unit (LGU) to formally oppose the testing. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte earlier called for a stop to the testing at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao campus.
The Sta. Barbara resolution cited the lack of consultation with municipal officials and farmers in the two villages on the conduct of field tests as well as the absence of a comprehensive risk assessment on the health and environmental effects of the Bt eggplants.
Bt eggplant is produced through the artificial introduction of the Bt soil bacteria to the eggplant through genetic manipulation. Planting Bt eggplant, said to be resistant to fruit and shoot borers, is seen to result in higher production.
Some groups of environmentalists, scientists and farmers have opposed the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) because of its potential harm to health and the native plant species.
In its resolution, copies of which were sent to the Departments of Agriculture, Trade and Industry and Environment and Natural Resources, the Sta. Barbara municipal council prohibited any testing until government agencies could confirm that Bt eggplants were not destructive to non-harmful insects and native species or varieties of eggplants.
“We had no idea that there are plans to conduct testing in our town but the barangay captains confirmed that there were groups who approached them to conduct the testing,” said Sta. Barbara Councilor Ernesto Pablo Sumagaysay III, chairman of the council’s agriculture and environment committee and author of the resolution.
The field tests for the Bt eggplant are being conducted in at least seven sites in the country, pending the application of the UP Los Baños-based Institute of Plant Breeding before the Bureau of Plant Industry, according to the Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag), a network of farmers’ groups, scientist and non-government organizations in the Philippines.
The sites include Sta. Maria town in Pangasinan; Pili, Camarines Sur; UP Los Baños in Laguna; Visayas State University in Baybay, Leyte; UP Mindanao in Davao City; University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato and Sta. Barbara in Iloilo.
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