Koronadal City - At least four genetically modified crops will be on the Filipino food table by 2010, a genetics expert said on Monday.

Emerlito Borromeo, consultant of the international Third World Network, said that scientists at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are set to unleash in the commercial market bio-engineered crops three years from now.

He identified these as the Papaya Ring Spot Virus, fruit and shoot borer-resistant eggplant, multiple virus-resistant tomato, and the beta-carotene-rich Golden Rice. Scientists at UPLB have been experimenting on the first three products while the fourth is a project of the Los Baños-based IRRI, he said.

"If their target will push through, this will be the first time that products with genetically modified organisms (GMO) will be made available to the Filipino people," Mr. Borromeo, who has a doctorate degree in genetics, told BusinessWorld.

Research for the genetically altered papaya, eggplant and tomato is being undertaken through the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development.

Golden Rice is reportedly intended to address the problem of vitamin A deficiency, which is a major form of malnutrition in developing countries. Mr. Borromeo claimed that Philippine agriculture has been undergoing "GMOization" which could threaten organic agriculture practiced mostly by small farmers.

He said genetically altered thrusts in the country involved only plants but not animals at this point. He chided the GMO technology as "imprecise," saying that there was no comprehensive study attesting to its safety on the human health and the environment and that the Filipino people should not patronize it.

"The tests for GMO products are being done on chickens and hogs but not on humans, unlike in the field of medicine where experiments are conducted on humans," Mr. Borromeo added.

He claimed that the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), which approves genetically modified crops, is dependent on the findings of the proponents and allegedly does not conduct independent testing.

"If the bureau, which is attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA), will conduct an independent test, the whole budget of the department will not be enough. The test is rigorous. That’s why if the proponents claim the product is safe, the bureau takes it as that," he said.

But Saturnina Halos, Department of Agriculture Biotech Advisory Team chief, belied the claims of Mr. Borromeo that genetically altered crops approved for commercial release pose health and environment risks.

In a statement, Ms. Halos said these GMOs have been proven scientifically to have no danger to the environment, contrary to fears raised by environmentalists.

Ms. Halos said none of the GMO products approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry since December 2002 has caused any ailment among the farmers who planted them and the people who consumed them. The first GMO to be approved for commercial release in the Philippines in December 2002 was the pest-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt corn, which is now cultivated all over the country.

Ms. Halos said that GMOs approved in the country were subjected to "the most rigorous science-based safety assessment by competent authorities and passed all standards."

But in March 2004, Terje Traavik, scientific director of the Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology, revealed that Bt toxic traces were found in the blood samples of B’laan natives living near a Bt corn field in Kalyong, a remote sitio in barangay Landan, Polomolok, South Cotabato.

"My research showed that footprints of Bt toxin were found in the blood samples," he told reporters then. However, he added that it is difficult to conclude whether the traces of Bt toxin found in the blood samples were a result of the individuals’ exposure to the Bt cornfield.

Ms. Halos said that apart from the safety assessment by experts from the BPI and other regulatory agencies of the DA, the Scientific Technical Review Panel, an independent scientific body, also evaluated GMO applications in the country.

Ms. Halos said that all GMO applications have to pass through a wringer comprised of several layers of assessments from independent scientists, all of whom are accorded the time to check on the organisms, report their findings and subject the GMOs to repeated tests for toxicity and impact on indigenous plants and animals.

She also defended the process by which the BPI approves the application for the commercial release of GMOs and GMO products, explaining that "government has not rushed headlong into approving products that eventually would threaten people and the environment."

She noted that the safety protocol followed by the Philippines competes with the system operating in the European Union, which has the strictest scientific regulations as far as GMOs are concerned.

"All the GMO applications approved for commercial release in the Philippines have undergone careful review by other scientific bodies and equally competent authorities. They are as safe as their non-GMO counterparts," Ms. Halos said.