Landmark court ruling vs. GMOs
(BIG DEAL, By Dan Mariano
Monday, September 24, 2007)
It may not have landed on the front page, but a ruling issued recently by Branch 101 of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City was a landmark decision nonetheless.
Following up on a temporary restraining order she issued earlier, RTC Judge Evangeline Marigomen stopped the Department of Agriculture from approving a rice strain derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which a multinational company is poised to commercially propagate in the Philippines.
Judge Marigomen’s preliminary injunction order is the latest development in an ongoing court case filed by the environmental group Greenpeace and the nongovernmental organization Searice.
The anti-GMO plaintiffs question the constitutionality of DA Administrative Order No. 8-2002, the government’s system for GMO approvals. The environment advocates have repeatedly asserted that the system is “hopelessly flawed” and violates basic constitutional rights.
Greenpeace helped file the court plea against the government’s policy on GMOs last August. The petition sought a permanent injunction on the approval of Bayer Cropscience Corporation’s genetically modified rice Liberty Link 62 whose application is being reviewed by the DA, through its Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
Bayer’s LL62 rice has been approved for commercial distribution only in the United States.
In her injunction order, Judge Marigomen said “a sampling of the petitioners’ evidence show that there is a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed rights 1) to information of public concern, 2) protection and promotion of health, and 3) a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
Judge Marigomen’s injunction order is the first major ruling on GMOs in the Philippines since 2002 when the government allowed the entry of genetically altered crops.
Greenpeace and its co-petitioner Searice hailed the decision as a “major step forward” in the campaign to protect human health and ensure the safety of the environment from the adverse effects of GMOs.
“Greenpeace welcomes the court ruling and calls upon the Department of Agriculture to immediately scrap its current policy on GMOs,” said Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia genetic engineering campaigner. “The DA has to prioritize the health and environment of the Filipinos. GMOs are not proven to be safe, and the current policy is patently biased and unacceptable.”
Added Ocampo: “We hope the injunction will compel the DA to review its agenda independent of pressures and the lure of kickbacks from the multinational GMO corporations.”
Ocampo explained that due to the nature of their petition, both the DA and Bayer Cropscience are respondents in the case. “However, it is exasperating to see that the agriculture department has abdicated its role altogether and left the entire defense of its policies to Bayer’s lawyers,” he said.
In the September 14 hearing before Judge Marigomen issued her injunction order, Bayer presented 17 arguments in defense of AO8.
“The Department of Agriculture is the government’s most important agency as it is responsible for the country’s basic food sources,” Ocampo said. “It cannot be run by profiteering corporate interests.”
According to Greenpeace, the DNA of Bayer LL62 has been injected with genetic material from an entirely different organism to resist glufosinate, a powerful weed killer also produced by Bayer, which is meant to be used in conjunction with its rice strain.
Lagareng Hapon, as the old Tagalogs might have put it. “Kabig sa tulak, kabig sa hatak.”
Bayer filed an application with the BPI in August last year for the approval of LL62 in the Philippines. Greenpeace said it had repeatedly requested the BPI for official information regarding the application.
The DA and the BPI, however, have been quiet, Greenpeace reported. All both agencies have said is that the matter is under review and that Bayer has “complied” with the requirement to submit a “product information sheet” under AO 8.
If approved, Bayer LL62 will be the first genetically modified rice in the Philippines—which will also be the first country in the world to approve a genetically altered strain of its most important staple food crop.
The preliminary injunction will be in effect while the court case is ongoing. The next hearing on the Greenpeace-Searice petition is set for November 16.-End-
