MORE than 100 people gathered in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Central Office in Quezon City on Wednesday as part of an international campaign against the feed and field testing of a rice variety in the country.

Farmer groups from Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Bicol, Quezon and Cordillera and the “Stop Golden Rice Network,” a broad alliance of more than 30 organizations from India Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia, along with representatives from China, Australia and New Zealand, staged the protest against a move by the DA to conduct nationwide feed and field testing of Golden Rice, said Marcelino de la Rosa, spokesman of RESIST! Agri-TNC Network-Philippines.

De la Rosa said with the introduction of Golden Rice seeds 80 days from now, local farmers would lose their right to choose their seed varieties.





“Ang panawagan namin sa Department of Agriculture ay ipagtanggol nila yung karapatan naming mga magsasaka. Huwag naman sana nilang sirain ang pagkain na aming inihahain sa mga kapwa naming Pilipino,” [We call on the Department of Agriculture to protect our rights as farmers. We hope they will not destroy the kind of food we serve for our fellow Filipinos.] Dela Rosa said.

Among the 10 affiliates of Stop Golden Rice! Network, eight were present: RESIST! Agri-TNCs Network-Philippines, Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), SIKWAL-GMO, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bikol (KMB), Philippine Network for Food Security Programs (PNFSP), Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya-Philippines (SIBAT), and Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples Rights (TFIP).

Later on Wednesday, the protesters will have an opportunity to direct their sentiments and arguments to the national government agencies through a dialogue at Madison 101, Aurora Blvd. New Manila, Quezon City.

The dialogue will be attended by representatives from the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI), Department of Health (DoH), National Nutrition Council (NNC), Department of Science and Technology-Food Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and and Anakpawis Partylist. EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ