WHILE farmers from Pangasinan were among those who asked the Supreme Court (SC) last week to allow the field testing of genetically modified eggplants, a non-government group fighting against GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) has again raised the alarm against its dangers.

Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT), a non-government organization promoting the use of sustainable agriculture technologies said “informed farmers” “understand that avoiding GMOs is important to maintain their independence from these harmful technologies”.

Farmers from Pangasinan, where bacillus thuringiensis (bt) eggplants — a variety that produces its own pesticide — have been welcomed for trial, along with those from Bukidnon, filed a petition before the SC to reverse last year’s Court of Appeals (CA) ruling stopping the field testing.

Pro-GMO farmers said the CA decision denied them their “constitutional right to property and protection of their means of livelihood”.

“There is no valid justification to maintain the naturalistic fallacy espoused in the assailed CA ruling that the ‘naturally-ordained’ state of the environment must not be altered,” reads the petition.

SIBAT’s deputy director Shen Maglinte, on the other hand, said the influx of GMOs has “jeopardized the rights of the farmers to choose organic and non-GMO crops”.

SIBAT volunteer Emily Bradford explained further that “interfering with the genetic makeup of naturally grown produce impedes the progress of farmers who are using time-honored techniques to improve seed quality.”

Pangasinan is among the top eggplant producers of the country, as well as rice and corn.

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