ILOILO CITY - Filipino investors should seriously look into the potentials of biotechnology so that other nationals do not leave them behind in exploiting its benefits, a biotechnology advocate has said.

Dr. Benigno Peczon, chairman of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, said Filipinos, including investors, should not be "laggard" in maximizing the potentials of biotechnology, which many transnational companies have poured money into.

He said biotechnology shows enormous potentials and he is meeting businessmen next month to talk with them on areas to invest in. "Can you imagine if we can transform these [potentials] to wealth?"

Currently, transnational corporations have partnered with local research institutions and the agriculture department in developing biotechnology products or genetically modified organisms.

For example, Monsanto has donated genes for virus-resistant papaya to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, while Syngenta is working with the International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute in developing a rice variety with Vitamin A.

Peczon was here recently for the "Biotechnology Media Orientation," apparently a counteroffensive to the advocacies of groups opposed to genetically modified organisms like the Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt corn.

Peczon's group belongs to Biotech for Life, a consortium composed of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Science and Technology's Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.

Biotechnology, their group says, citing popular definition is "any technique that uses a living organism [e.g., plants, animals, microorganisms] or parts of it to improve another living organism for a specific purpose," adding that it can address problems on food security, environment and health.

Peczon cites as examples the use of Bt corn which does not require using pesticides, as a boon to the environment and health, along with " bioremediation," or the use of plants and microbes to clean toxicants and oil spills, and the development of biodegradable plastics and other environment-friendly products.