Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has visited the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Laguna, sources said.



Gates, named the world’s richest man in 2015 by the Forbes Magazine, arrived at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the IRRI headquarters aboard a private helicopter and left after a two-hour “confidential visit,” sources told INQUIRER.net.



Reached for comment, IRRI spokesman Tony Lambino would not deny nor confirm the whirlwind visit of the American philanthropist.



The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the research and development of IRRI’s Golden Rice, a genetically manipulated variety that contains beta carotene. Environmental groups and scientists question the technology’s efficacy and safety for humans and the environment.

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