FOCUS ON ASIA
http://www.gmwatch.org/asia.asp

Websites of some groups concerned about GM in the Philippines:
SEARICE
http://www.searice.org.ph/
Masipag
http://www.masipag.org/
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) - Peasant Movement of the Philippines
http://www.geocities.com/kmp_ph/strug/0520a03.html
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Govt told: Don't let farmers be held hostage by foreign firms
By REXCEL JOHN SORZA
TODAY Correspondent
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=Science&oid=59521

ILOILO CITY - A scientist and science workers' group leader on Thursday warned farmers here that they would end up hostage by transnational corporations selling agrochemical products if the government reneges on its mandate to support agricultural research as a result of the financial crisis.

Dr. Giovanni Tapang, chairman of Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan, said that if there is no government subsidy to agricultural research, particularly to the Philippine Rice Research Institute, transnational corporations would plow in money into the research facility.

Their investments, which could take the form of partnerships and joint ventures, would enable the foreign companies, said Tapang, to impose their agenda that could ultimately result to their control of the market -- from seeds and inputs production to insurance of farmers.

He further said that the Arroyo government has to prioritize agriculture and seriously take science and technology to serve the people instead of allowing transnational companies to control the country’s agriculture sector.

Tapang issued the warning as he spoke in the "Forum on the Impact of the Hybridization Program and Control of Agrochem Transnational Corporations on Agriculture" before more than 100 farmers and students here on Thursday.

He said transnational corporations, such as RiceTec, Novartis and Syngenta, Monsanto, Aventis and DuPont, are trying to control agriculture by coming out with almost all products that farmers need, including seeds, like genetically engineered rice and corn seeds, that could be cultivated only through their technologies.

These companies, he added, have made their way into the country's agriculture sector with the help of governments, including the Philippines, specifically when governments deregulated international trade in rice seeds, removed quantitative restrictions on seeds importation and discouraged the development of industries.

Tapang said that in the Philippines, transnational corporations’ control of agriculture is being made possible through liberalization, reduction in subsidies, importation, privatization of rice procurement and distribution.

Transnational agrochemical corporations, he said, have "strong government influence and lobby" in trying to control seeds, inputs and technologies. As an example, he cited the case of the United States, where in a span of 10 years, Monsanto and DuPont were able to control 90 percent of the American corn seed market.

To counter this, Tapang said, there is a need for the people's control of the production -- from land, technology, fertilizer and everything else needed in farming.

"True agrarian reform is a must," he said, to enable farmers to resist the technologies introduced to them by transnational companies through their landlords.

This control could also be prevented or undone if the government and farmers stop going into hybrid-rice farming, Tapang said.

He said that hybrid rice had minimal impact to improve yields, no cost-effect methods for seed production, and needs more pesticides and fertilizers. There is also the control on seeds and inputs, and hybrid-rice farming is expensive.

He said that without hybrid rice, a study done in 1991-1993 showed that farmers had an average yield of 2.05 metric tons a hectare, and a maximum of 6.3 metric tons a hectare.

It is not all the matter of seeds, he said, that affects rice production. Tapang said that "feudal relations," and the farmers having no land of their own, low agricultural technology and no government support are the main culprits why farmers are unable to increase their yields.

Farmer Digno Bercero, 63, agreed with Tapang. He said transnational companies indeed try to control agriculture by introducing hybrid rice.

"You have to buy your seeds from them [foreign companies]. You also have to buy a lot of insecticides, pesticides and herbicides from them. Then you again have to buy fertilizers from them. See, they control everything."

Bercero said this is why he went into organic farming for 30 years now. He said he is sure that his produce is chemical-free and is safe for human consumption. He, too, enjoys minimal expenditure for his farm inputs. His hectare-wide rice field yields from 80 sacks to 120 sacks for each cropping season, and it was able to make him send his children, including a now agricultural engineer, to school.

Another farmer, Honorato Nad, tried hybrid rice. "At first you would be happy with how its looks. But when it is about to mature, you would have to spend much for the chemicals because of various diseases. It was frustrating."

He said that hybrid rice is "expensive to grow, sensitive to diseases and tedious to cultivate."