Municipal mayors nationwide on Tuesday met with experts in the biotechnology movement in the Philippines and discussed the importance of disease-resistant crops and high-yielding varieties.

Dr. Saturnina Halos, chairman of the Biotechnology Advisory of the Department of Agriculture, led a panel of biotechnology experts in tackling the matter, during the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel.

Besides being the spearhead in the government's campaign to produce more nutritious rice and corn and other products, biotechnology plays a vital role in innovations in medicine, fuel production, health services, and even in food preparations.

Halos said the roundtable discussion with more than 80 municipal mayors was made to enlighten local government units about the value of biotechnology.

She disclosed to the mayors that biotechnology is the wave of the future and it would help agricultural communities increase their production, improve their incomes and provide consumers with nutritious and disease-resistant food products.

Halos scored the resistance of some quarters on biotechnology, saying that the fears raised by critics have been adequately addressed by the scientific community and the government.

To address their concerns,
Halos said the government, through the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology, and the South East Asian Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, has established a Biotechnology Media and Advocacy Resource Center as its research and advocacy arm.

In her discussion, Halos clarified that genetically modified Bt corn has yielded a wealth of information on promoting disease-resistant crops and higher yielding varieties.

Halos explained that contrary to the fears raised by critics, Bt corn research has revealed that no ailments related to Bt-corn cultivation has been confirmed. Charges about super weeds arising from Bt corn have proven to be false, she assured the mayors.