The local scientific community stood behind the recent approval by the Arroyo Administration of a set of guidelines allowing for the propagation of a popular high-yielding biotechnology process corn variety.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) formally gave the nod for the commercial availability of Bacillus Thurigiensis or Bt corn, known for its environment-friendly traits and high resistance to the Asiatic Corn Borer, the major plague of local corn crops.

The commercialization of Bt corn came after five years of strict scientific and technical assessment by several government agencies. Among these are National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines, the BPI, the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Bureau of Agriculture and food Product Standards, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and the scientific and technical Review Panel. The latter is composed of three independent scientists.

Bt corn was favorably recommended for domestic propagation by all the reviewing agencies.

The government adoption of agricultural biotechnology as an anchor of its policy for food security and sufficiency received wide support from scientists from the University of the Philippines in Los Baņos (UPLB), the National Institute of Molecular Biology, the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the Institute of Plant Breeding, and the Natural Science Research Institute.

The pro-biotechnology policy is also backed by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the Biochemical Society of the Philippines, the Pest Management Council of the Philippines, the Women Association of Scientists in the Philippines, and the Women Investors Association of the Philippines.

Among the leading Filipino savants supporting agricultural biotechnology ARE up-based scientists, Dr. Evelyn Mae Tecson-Mendoza, Prof. Nelle Lopez, Emerica Cao, Nina Barzaga, Mario Festin and Dr. Violeta Villegas.

The Filipino scientists bucked a multimillion dollar scare campaign launched in the Philippines against agricultural biotechnology by Europe-based  political pressure group.  The group warned the Philippine government that the adoption of agricultural biotechnology would result in deaths and ilnesses.

The scientific community, however, called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resist the scare campaign.  They challenged anti-biotechnology advocates "to use reason and scientific data to back their threats."

The performance of Bt corn in several trial farms, however, bolstered the scientific community's advocacy for its adoption. Field test results conducted in various regions showed that Bt corn could yield up to 40 percent more than traditional corn varieties during the wet season and up to 35 percent during the dry season.