ROXAS City - A respected scientist assured the public that genetically modified organisms (GMO) products are safe for human consumption and the environment.

During the media conference held at Sabin Resort Hotel in Ormoc City on May 12, Dr. Emiliana Bernardo, chairman of the Insect Resistance Management Advisory Team of the Department of Agriculture, cited the controversial “Bacillus thuringiensis” (Bt) corn took as an example.

She said the hullabaloo over the GMO comes from the use of the word “toxin” when it actually should have been “protoxin”.

The modified corn simply has a gene that controls the infestation of Asian Corn Borer, which does not even affect other organisms, Bernardo said.

“It does not even harm the borer’s relatives, so how much more the humans? We’re not related to them,” she added.

Dr. Randy Hautea of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) said GMO biotech is the most rapidly adapted technology in agriculture.

“Twenty five countries are already planting GMOs and another 30 are importing or directly consuming GMO,” he said.

Hautea explained that importing food from other provinces which are not GMO would likely be impossible.

“All food and animal feeds now available in the country somehow use GMO,” he added.

If Negros Occidental will not accept GMO products, he said, many chickens, pigs, and most especially humans will be starved.

Rosalie Ellasus, a former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who became a farmer, said she decided to quit from her work abroad because her income could not support family.

Ellasus now is one of the most successful biotech farmers in the country using hybrid corn seeds in San Jacinto, Pangasinan.

As the first recipient of Kleckner Trade and Technology Advancement Award, she has been receiving numerous invitations from other countries to share her experience on agriculture.

Other speakers during the media forum were Julieta Roa, Philrootscrops director; Rhodora Aldemita, ISAAA senior program officer; Dr. Angelina Garces, senior research specialist of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development(PCARRD); Manuel Palomar, Visayas State University vice president; Julieta Fe Estacio, secretariat of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP); Dr. Emiliana Bernardo; and Philippine Star columnist Rudy Fernandez.

The participants were members of the tri-media from Visayas, researchers, and public information officers from different government line agencies./PN