Aklan town stops charcoal-making for 5 years

NAGA CITY—A very low-key field testing of genetically modified “Golden Rice” in two Camarines Sur towns has stirred debate between organic farmers and farming advocates and those conducting the tests.

Representatives of Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag) and CamSur Organic Agriculture and Industrial Development Inc. (Camsoaid) raised alarm over the field tests, saying the genetically modified rice variety could contaminate traditional rice varieties in farms near the testing sites in the towns of Pili and Tigaon.

Masipag and Camsoaid demanded an immediate stop to the tests.

Masipag is the organization that was able to obtain a writ of kalikasan from the Supreme Court last month against new applications for field tests of Bt eggplant, another genetically modified plant which was tested last year at Central Bicol State University for Agriculture here.

Golden Rice is a genetically modified rice variety inserted with genes from corn, and Erwinia uredovora (a bacteria found in soil), which enables it to produce beta carotene and gives grains a golden color, according to Masipag.

Dr. Chito Medina, Masipag national coordinator, said in a statement the field tests in Pili and Tigaon were “exposing nearby rice plants to possible contamination.”

“Golden Rice is not naturally consumed by humans and does not naturally exist in the environment. We need to be extra careful in dealing with GMOs (genetically modified organisms),” Medina said .

But Dr. Antonio Alfonso, plant molecular biologist and head of Philippine Rice (PhilRice) projects to test GMOs, brushed aside fears of contamination, saying the field testings of Golden Rice in two locations were being done in controlled conditions that follow safety standards set by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

Alfonso confirmed that Golden Rice is a genetically modified variety created by Ingo Potrykus, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Peter Beyer, of the University of Freiburg in Germany.

Alfonso said PhilRice is carrying out the field tests under the direct supervision of BPI in partnership with the regional Department of Agriculture office and the local government units of Pili and Tigaon.

He said grains of Golden Rice were planted on a 950-squaremeter area each in Pili and Tigaon last March and were harvested in June yielding about three sacks of grains per field test area.

He said samples were taken for further study. Most of the harvest, he said, was destroyed.

“The Golden Rice seeds were planted in a very small manageable area isolated from the rest of the rice plants,” Alfonso said. ILOILO CITY—A small town in Aklan has banned charcoalmaking for five years in a bid to save its forests and prevent flooding.

The ordinance, passed in May, is expected to be implemented starting next month in Balate town, about 20 kilometers south of the capital town of Kalibo.

Under the ordinance, the manufacture of charcoal from trees is prohibited in all the town’s 10 villages. Only char- coal made from coconut husks would be allowed, said town Councilor Peter Recidoro, chair of the town council’s committee on environment.

Violators face a fine of P2,500 for every five sacks of charcoal found in their possession while the same amount of fine will be imposed on traders for every two sacks confiscated. Drivers of vehicles transporting charcoal will also be fined P2,500 for every three sacks found in their vehicles.

Recidoro said worsening floods in the town prompted officials to pass the ordinance. Balete is a fourth-class municipality with an annual income of less than P5 million and a population of 22,000.

He said the town suffered its worst flood in recent years in November last year even if there was no storm that time. The flood destroyed crops and wrought millions of pesos worth of damage to the coconut industry, the town’s main source of income.

“We believe the flooding was a result of the denudation of our forests. One cause is rampant charcoal-making,” Recidoro said.

Charcoal-making had been allowed in the town but charcoal makers were advised to use only fallen tree branches.

Recidoro said that in recent years, charcoal makers have gone overboard, cutting more and more trees and turning these into charcoal.

Charcoal makers have been told to only use coconut husks or find other sources of livelihood while the ban is in effect.

“It (the ban) is just [for] five years and we must do this to give time to plant trees for our forests to recover,” Recidoro said.