Greenpeace in the Philippines

Greenpeace called upon the Philippine government
to harness the massive potential of wind and other renewable energy
sources in the country, and take the lead in Asia to mitigate the
impacts of climate change. The call was made at the launch of a new
report entitled ‘Energy [R]evolution: A sustainable East Asia Energy
Outlook.’
   
   

The report may be downloaded at:
http://www.energyblueprint.info/fileadmin/media/documents/regional/east_asia_report.pdf

Note:
(1)Nuclear energy has no place in a future energy scenario. It poses
multiple threats to people and the environment, including the risks of
environmental damage from uranium mining, processing and transport,
nuclear weapons proliferation, the unsolved problem of nuclear waste
and the potential hazards of serious accidents.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not
a `magic bullet´ solution to greenhouse pollution from coal plants. CCS
is unproven, expensive and is decades away from being anything but a
theory. In the meantime there is a danger that CCS will redirect public
money away from clean, green solutions. Greepeace maintains that coal
is dirty and damaging to the environment and must be phased out.

Greenpeace activists dressed to symbolize the
bul-ul, a traditional Ifugao rice guardian, carried out a sit-in
protest at the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) doorsteps in Quezon
City today. The peaceful action was meant to tell the DA to act on its
mandate to protect the country’s food supply, in this case against
looming GMO rice (genetically-modified rice) threat posed by the
agency’s pending decision on GMO rice Bayer LL62.
   
     As part of the protest, the
activists also displayed a banner with the message "Keep our rice
GMO-free!" and delivered a bul-ul carving to DA Secretary Arthur Yap’s
office to remind him daily of the DA’s important role in watching over
the country’s precious rice supply. The bul-ul, Greenpeace says, also
symbolizes how this grain is inextricably linked to our culture and way
of life, and should serve to remind us how GMO rice must never become a
reality in the Philippines.

"We
are calling on the DA to be a vigilant guardian of our country’s most
precious food crop," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigns director
Von Hernandez. "Our rice is under threat from corporate-driven
genetic-tampering. Instead of entertaining the application of the GMO
rice Bayer LL62 the DA should ensure that our rice supply is safe both
to the environment and human health."

"GMOs pose inherent risks
to the environment and human health. These genetically-manipulated
organisms threaten biodiversity, food security, farmers’ livelihoods,
and consumers’ choice. As the guardian of the country’s rice supply, it
is clear that the DA should act now and reject the application of Bayer
LL62, as well as all other GMO rice applications in the future," he
added.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), an attached agency of the DA, is
currently reviewing an application for the approval of the GMO rice
Bayer LL62, for food, feed and processing in the country. Bayer LL62 is
rice genetically-manipulated to resist the powerful weed-killer
glufosinate which is meant to be used in conjunction with the said GMO
crop. Greenpeace has been actively blocking the approval of Bayer LL62,
asserting that its entry into the country’s food chain will have
disastrous consequences on the Philippines’ most important food crop.
The approval of Bayer LL62 will further set a dangerous precedent that
will open the floodgates to the future entry of other GMO rice strains
in the country. 

  Bayer submitted its application for the
authorization of LL62 GMO rice in August 2006. But although the BPI
announced last month that LL62 is still under assessment, they have yet
to publicly disclose how far the application has gone, and at what date
the public can expect the final decision. Greenpeace says that this is why their call for the rejection of Bayer LL62 is urgent.

"If protecting the integrity of our rice is their intention, then there
is no need for the BPI and the DA to dilly-dally over a decision that
should in fact be straightforward. But the BPI’s record in approving
GMOs is far from reassuring. In the 49 months since December 2002, the
BPI has approved 40 GMOs for commercial use in the Philippines. But the
general public, who ultimately consumes these GMOs, is hardly aware of
this development," said Hernandez. "If we had not raised the issue of
LL62 rice into public attention, would the BPI have given this
application the prominent public exposure that it rightly deserves?
Based on the little they have disclosed so far, perhaps not. And yet,
this is a decision that will affect all of us Filipinos at the most
basic level in the decades to come." 

"This also therefore
serves as a challenge addressed to the DA that they make known to the
public whether they are committed to protecting the integrity of our
rice and rice supply or not," he added.

Greenpeace campaigns for GE-free crop and food production grounded on
the principles of sustainability, protection of biodiversity, and
providing all people access to safe and nutritious food.
Genetic-engineering is an unnecessary and unwanted technology that
contaminates the environment, threatens biodiversity, and poses
unacceptable risks to health.

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