Environmentalists, farmers groups raise alarm on Golden Rice

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:09 pm | Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / EV ESPIRITU

MANILA, Philippines Farmers and environmentalist groups on Tuesday vowed to do everything they could to stop the release of genetically modified Golden Rice in farms and markets owing to its purported health and environmental risks. In a statement, Jaime Tadeo, spokesperson of the National Rice Farmers Council, accused producers and developers of Golden Rice of sugarcoating the Vitamin A -enriched product to give a humanitarian face to GMOs , or genetically modified organisms. Golden Rice has long been rejected by Filipinos and in other parts of the world. Its creators are using this to improve their image and we know they are waging a major public relations campaign to win the hearts of Filipinos and get this GMO rice in our food on the table, he said. Research and development of Golden Rice started in 1992 with the prototype released eight years later by Syngenta, the third largest seed company and biggest agro-chemical company in the world, according to Greenpeace. The first generation Golden Rice had low concentrations of beta carotene, the precursor of Vitamin A, and would have required people to consume 12 times their normal rice intake of rice to obtain the recommended dietary allowance of Vitamin A, based on a Greenpeace study in 2001. In 2005, the Golden Rice Project, supported by companies like Syngenta that owned patents on genes and processes involved in Golden Rice, produced the second generation Golden Rice (GR 2) that supposedly had more beta carotene. The second generation variety is being tested jointly by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in several locations around the Philippines, according to Greenpeace. I am warning my fellow farmers, once the government approves the Golden Rice, this will undoubtedly mix with our seeds and we will not be able to claim our farms as truly organic. What will happen to our thrust of exporting specialty or organic rice to other countries? Tadeo said. The farmers appealed to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to deny the entry and releases of GMOs into the country, particularly Golden Rice because it will not only cost the country its emerging niche in rice exports but als o endanger the countrys biodiversity and poses unknown risks to human health. We dont see any benefit in allowing GMOs into the country. It will not increase our yield that will improve our income. Even the Vitamin A component of Golden Rice cannot be ascertained by its sponsors, said Tadeo. Greenpeace noted that the IRRI, which has been leading the development of Golden Rice, admitted in a statement dated Feb. 26 and posted on its website that it has not yet been determined whether daily consumption of Golden Rice does improve the vitamin A status of people who are vitamin A deficient and could therefore reduce related conditions such as night blindness. If Golden Rice is approved by national regulators, Helen Keller International and university par tners will conduct a controlled community study to ascertain if eating Golden Rice every day improves vitamin A status, it added. Syngenta may not be after large profits in releasing Golden Rice, per se. They saw this as a big opportunity to increase the brownie points of GMO by presenting this as a humanitarian program for the Philippines, Tadeo said.

He raised concerns that other GMO companies would gain entry into the Philippines, and that is when they will be able to corner big stakes for the company. Tadeo said his group was linking up with consumer and environment groups in their campaign to keep Philippine rice GMO-free.

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Manila govt asked to implement plastics ban now

By Erika Sauler
Philippine Daily Inquirer
8:12 pm | Sunday, September 1st, 2013

MANILA, Philippines With the one-year moratorium on Manilas plastic ban about to end, an environmental group urged the city government, on Sunday, to enforce the ordinance, citing its recent finding that yellow plastic bags contained excessive levels of toxic chemicals. Ordinance No. 8282, which prohibits the use of plastic bags for dry goods and regulate their use for wet goods, was passed on Sept. 3, 2012, by the previous administration. A one-year ban on its implementation was imposed to allow businessmen to make the necessary adjustments. By taking firm action to curb the indiscriminate use and disposal of plastic bags, Mayor [Joseph] Erap Estrada and the government and people of Manila will surely contribute to diminishing such a toxic threat to humans and the ecosystems, said Sonia Mendoza of EcoWaste Coalitions Zero Waste Committee. The group bought and analyzed some 4,300 plastic bags from wholesalers and retailers in Divisoria, Paco, Quiapo and Sampaloc on Aug. 29 to 31 to determine compliance with toxics in packaging control. Using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, EcoWaste found out that 2,300 of the 4,300 pieces of yellow sando bag samples (bags shaped like an undershirt) representing 13 brands, exceeded the allowable level of 100 parts per million (ppm) by weight for toxic metals, particularly lead. The group said that lead, a potent neurological, reproductive and developmental toxin, was detected in levels ranging from 106 to 5,680 ppm, with average lead content at 1,313 ppm. The sampling was limited to yellow plastic sando bags as similar studies abroad had shown lead in colored bags due to the use of lead chromate, it said. Our findings confirm that plastic bags represent a real menace to human and ecological health, Mendoza said. The threat comes not only from the huge amount of discarded plastic bags blocking waterways, aggravating floods and choking dumps, but also from their toxic chemical ingredients that get dispersed into the environment, contaminating the food chain and ultimately, our bodies, she said.

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Renewable energy govt goalAlvarez

Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:24 am | Monday, August 5th, 2013

Climate Change Commissioner Heherson Alvarez: Two-track program.

MANILA, PhilippinesPresident Aquino supports renewable energy sources but current economic limitations dictate the continued pursuit of coal-based energy, according to the Climate Change Commission (CCC). Reacting to environmental group Greenpeaces statement calling the administrations seeming preference for coal driven energy alarming, Commissioner Heherson Alvarez of the CCC said that developing clean energy sources remained the administrations goal. President Aquinos two-track energy program consists of using coal-based as well as renewable energy sources, he said. Far from neglecting renewable energy sources, the President has significantly advanced the countrys clean and sustainable energy program, Alvarez said in a statement. While our power plant base loads are still reliant on hydrocarbons, renewable energy in the countrys diversified energy mix is registering a significant and growing share, he noted. But since technology for alternative energy cannot yet compete with fossil fuel prices, reality dictates a measured shift to renewable energy. Otherwise, the countrys economy would definitely suffer a setback, Alvarez said. Economic realities dictate the expedient use of hydrocarbons for power generation as the Philippines strives for stability and growth, he added. In his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Aquino said he supported the development of alternative energy sources but lamented the protests against building power plants and in favor of investing in renewable energy sources. Did they say that it is more expensive to construct and it will therefore increase the power rate? he had asked. In its statement, Greenpeace said it was gravely disappointed in the Presidents contradictory statements and excuses for not investing in renewable energy sources.Nastasha Verayo

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Manila Bay still very productive, say experts

By Kristine Felisse Mangunay
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:42 pm | Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Apart from discarded plastic bags and waste materials, what else is there in the dying waters of Manila Bay? Believe it or not, bisugo, sapsap and shrimp, among others. According to the environmentalist group Greenpeace, these and other marine life can be found in the bay waters off Cavite, Bataan and relatively all coastal cities and towns, contrary to the public perc eption that there was no more life left in the body of water. Even if were killing Manila Bay, its still very productive, Vince Cinches, the groups ocean campaigner, said. According to data obtained by Greenpeace from the Management for the Seas of East Asia and the Manila Bay Environmental Management Project a few years ago, in the fish category, hasa-hasa has a relative abundance of 13.59 percent.

This is followed by bisugo (9.39 percent), bagaong (8 percent) and lapad (7.96 percent). Banak or talilong is at 4.12 percent, followed by kalaso (3.76 percent), sapsap (3.54 percent), asohos (3.37 percent), kabasi (3.03 percent) and others, 43.23 percent. Among the invertebrates, squid (species Loligo edulis) has the highest relative abundance at 47.45 percent, followed by crab (Portunus pelagicus species at 11.43 percent) and shrimp-suahe (10.19 percent). Relative species abundance refers to how common or rare a species is relative to other species in a defined location, Cinches said. Although the sea organisms may be thought of as regular food on the table, Dr. Gil Jacinto of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute said they were not the best. Are there fish (and others) in Manila Bay? Yes. Are they the best species we had (compared to) 20 -30 years ago? No, he said in a press conference on the M/Y Esperanza which has been making the rounds of bodies of water in Asia since May as part of Greenpeaces efforts to call the attention of stakeholders to the problems besetting the ocean. A sample of Manila Bay waters taken one to two kilometers away from the shoreline showed that the body of water contained diverse microorganisms and many smaller plankton. This, Jacinto said, was indicative of a stressed body of water. While stressed environments enable the growth of certain organisms, he said these organisms were still not the best food for people. Dr. Romy Quijano of the Philippine General Hospital said these were likely to be contaminated by certain chemicals like mercury and cadmium, among others.

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Environmentalists seek nationwide plastic ban

By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:27 am | Thursday, July 4th, 2013

MANILA, PhilippinesEnvironmentalists on Wednesday pushed for the extension nationwide of some municipal and city bans on the use of plastic bags. To date, at least 90 cities and towns have passed ordinances banning or regulating the use of plastic bags, with several more local government units (LGUs) poised to follow suit before the end of the year, according to EcoWaste Coalition. On Wednesday, EcoWaste led a march of more than 500 students, school officials, parent-teacher officers, beauty queens and environmentalists to observe the 4th International Plastic Bag -Free Day and call on the national government to enact laws banning plastic bags all over the country. We ask the national government to enact laws and policies that will reinforce the initiatives of visionary LGUs and eventually wean us from plastic bags, Sonia Mendoza of the Mother Earth Foundation and the EcoWaste Coalitions Task Force Head on Plastics said in a news release. The group gathered at the Jose P. Laurel High School in Tondo, Manila, carrying the reusable bayong or native baskets, banners and placards calling for a nationwide ban on plastic bags. EcoWaste said the action was intended to hammer home the urgent message for the national government to act decisively against the use, sale and distribution of plastic bags, which clog drainage canals and waterways. Plastic bags are the embodiment of an antiquated, throw-away mentality that we need to urgently address, Mendoza said. By outlawing the use of plastic bags and other non-ecologically sound packaging materials, we substantially reduce our waste generation, thereby cutting waste management costs, and lessen related environmental risks such as flooding and marine pollution, she added. Plastic bags usually end up littering the streets and dumps, and at the same time polluting rivers and seas, Mendoza said. Recycling plastic bags does not solve the problem. (Recycling) just manages the plastic bags that have already been created. Recycled plastics still make their way back to the consumers buy -use-dispose loop, thus adding more plastics to the environment. What we need to do is to avoid its usag e in the first place, Mendoza said. The EcoWaste spokesperson added that banning the use of plastic bags would boost the demand for locally made bayong and cloth bags, supporting local cottage industries and creating more employment and business opportunities.

It is now a good time for LGUs and businesses to support and invest in the production of bayong and cloth bags, she said. EcoWaste also backed the impending Manila-wide ban on plastic bags and styropor containers in Manila pursuant to an ordinance that would take effect in September 2013.

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Manila City Hall says firm behind Pasig River spill had no permits
By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:35 am | Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Inspectors wearing masks arrive at the spill site on Saturday, June 22, 2013. RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, PhilippinesHeads are expected to roll at Manila City Hall in the aftermath of an extensive oil spill Saturday from a mini-depot in Sta. Ana, Manila, that authorities found was allowed to operate without the proper permits. City Administrator Jay Marzan said the authorities would investigate how Larraine Marketing, the owner of the minidepot that released thousands of liters of bunker fuel into the Pasig River, was allowed to operate without the necessary permits even if this means our own people (would) be affected. Based on their records, the mini-depot has been operating for more than 30 years, although its permit was for the distribution of new petroleum products and not used oil, Marzan said. Some 44,000 liters of used oil and 4,000 liters of sludge oil have been removed from the tank depot, the city administrator said, adding that the depots operation has been suspended and the spill contained. Thousands of liters of bunker fuel spilled Saturday night from the depots storage tank on Old Panadero s Street, Sta. Ana, which is along the Pasig River, causing panic among residents and sending at least four people to the hospital due to breathing difficulties. Philippine Coast Guard Rear Adm. Louis Tuason said it would take two to three days for Coast Guard personnel to manually remove the water lilies contaminated with bunker fuel. Meanwhile, Malacaang confirmed Monday that it was reviewing a controversial proposal to transfer the oil depots out of Pandacan. That issue has reached the Office of the President, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing. That (proposal is) being studied by the Office of the Executive Secretary, and we will let you know the results of that study. Lacierda said the review would factor in concerns raised by some oil companies that the transfer would increase transport costs and trigger oil price increases. In September last year, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim vetoed the ordinance calling for the closure of the Pandacan oil depot, saying the move could give a bad impression to businesses and investors. The veto came a month after the council passed Ordinance No. 8283, reclassifying the area from an industrial to a commercial zone and paving the way for the closure of the depot, which is categorized as heavy industrial.

Lacierda said that it was the responsibility of the oil depots to update their safety measures to prevent any untoward incidents. I think the oil companies have the responsibility and the technical know-how to ensure the safety of their depot. It is their loss if (an explosion) happens, he added.With a report from TJ A. Burgonio

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