Today is Saturday, December 07, 2024

Constitution Statutes Executive Issuances Judicial Issuances Other Issuances Jurisprudence International Legal Resources AUSL Exclusive

G.R. No. 209271, December 8, 2015,

♦ Decision, Villarama, Jr., [J]
♦ Concurring Opinion, Presbitero Velasco, [J]
♦ Concurring Opinion, Leonen, [J]

Manila

EN BANC

[ G.R. No. 209271, December 08, 2015 ]

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FOR THE ACQUISITION OF AGRI-BIOTECH APPLICATIONS, INC., PETITIONER,

VS. GREENPEACE SOUTHEAST ASIA (PHILIPPINES), MAGSASAKA AT SIYENTIPIKO SA PAGPAPAUNLAD
NG AGRIKULTURA (MASIPAG), REP. TEODORO CASIÑO, DR. BEN MALAYANG III, DR. ANGELINA GALANG,
LEONARDO AVILA III, CATHERINE UNTALAN, ATTY. MARIA PAZ LUNA, JUANITO MODINA, DAGOHOY
MAGAWAY, DR. ROMEO QUIJANO, DR. WENCESLAO KIAT, JR., ATTY. H. HARRY ROQUE, JR., FORMER
SEN. ORLANDO MERCADO, NOEL CABANGON, MAYOR EDWARD S. HAGEDORN AND EDWIN MARTHINE
LOPEZ, RESPONDENTS.

CROP LIFE PHILIPPINES, INC., PETITIONER-IN-INTERVENTION.

[G.R. No. 209276]

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT BUREAU OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL

RESOURCES, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY AND FERTILIZER AND PESTICIDE AUTHORITY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, PETITIONERS, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, GREENPEACE SOUTHEAST
ASIA (PHILIPPINES), MAGSASAKAAT SIYENTIPIKO SA PAGPAPAUNLAD NG AGRIKULTURA (MASIPAG),
REP. TEODORO CASIÑO, DR. BEN MALAYANG III, DR. ANGELINA GALANG, LEONARDO AVILA III,
CATHERINE UNTALAN, ATTY. MARIA PAZ LUNA, JUANITO MODINA, DAGOHOY MAGAWAY, DR. ROMEO
QUIJANO, DR. WENCESLAO KIAT, JR., ATTY. H. HARRY ROQUE, JR., FORMER SEN. ORLANDO MERCADO,
NOEL CABANGON, MAYOR EDWARD S. HAGEDORN AND EDWIN MARTHINE LOPEZ, RESPONDENTS.
CROP LIFE PHILIPPINES, INC., PETITIONER-IN-INTERVENTION.

[G.R. No. 209301]

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES LOS BAÑOS FOUNDATION, INC., PETITIONER, VS. GREENPEACE
SOUTHEAST ASIA (PHILIPPINES), MAGSASAKAAT SIYENTIPIKO SA PAGPAPAUNLAD NG AGRIKULTURA
(MASIPAG), REP. TEODORO CASIÑO, DR. BEN MALAYANG III, DR. ANGELINA GALANG, LEONARDO AVILA
III, CATHERINE UNTALAN, ATTY. MARIA PAZ LUNA, JUANITO MODINA, DAGOHOY MAGAWAY, DR. ROMEO
QUIJANO, DR. WENCESLAO KIAT, JR., ATTY. HARRY R. ROQUE, JR., FORMER SEN. ORLANDO MERCADO,
NOEL CABANGON, MAYOR EDWARD S. HAGEDORN AND EDWIN MARTHINE LOPEZ, RESPONDENTS.

[G.R. No. 209430]

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, PETITIONER, VS. GREENPEACE SOUTHEAST ASIA (PHILIPPINES),

MAGSASAKAAT SIYENTIPIKO SA PAGPAPAUNLAD NG AGRIKULTURA (MASIPAG), REP. TEODORO
CASIÑO, DR. BEN MALAYANG III, DR. ANGELINA GALANG, LEONARDO AVILA III, CATHERINE UNTALAN,
ATTY. MARIA PAZ LUNA, JUANITO MODINA, DAGOHOY MAGAWAY, DR. ROMEO QUIJANO, DR.
WENCESLAO KIAT, ATTY. HARRY R. ROQUE, JR., FORMER SEN. ORLANDO MERCADO, NOEL CABANGON,
MAYOR EDWARD S. HAGEDORN AND EDWIN MARTHINE LOPEZ, RESPONDENTS.

DECISION
VILLARAMA, JR., J.:

The consolidated petitions before Us seek the reversal of the Decision1 dated May 17, 2013 and
Resolution2 dated September 20, 2013 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 00013 which permanently
enjoined the conduct of field trials for genetically modified eggplant.

The Parties

Respondent Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Philippines) is the Philippine branch of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, a
regional office of Greenpeace International registered in Thailand.3 Greenpeace is a non-governmental
environmental organization which operates in over 40 countries and with an international coordinating body in
Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is well known for independent direct actions in the global campaign to preserve the
environment and promote peace.

Petitioner International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Inc. (ISAAA) is an international
non-profit organization founded in 1990 "to facilitate the acquisition and transfer of agricultural biotechnology
applications from the industrial countries, for the benefit of resource-poor farmers in the developing world" and
ultimately "to alleviate hunger and poverty in the developing countries." Partly funded by the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), ISAAA promotes the use of agricultural biotechnology, such as genetically
modified organisms (GMOs).4

Respondent Magsasaka at Siyentipiko sa Pagpapaunlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) is a coalition of local

farmers, scientists and NGOs working towards "the sustainable use and management of biodiversity through
farmers' control of genetic and biological resources, agricultural production, and associated knowledge."

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) is an autonomous constituent of the University of the
Philippines (UP), originally established as the UP College of Agriculture. It is the center of biotechnology education
and research in Southeast Asia and home to at least four international research and extension centers. Petitioner
UPLB Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI) is a private corporation organized "to be an instrument for institutionalizing a
rational system of utilizing UPLB expertise and other assets for generating additional revenues and other resources
needed by [UPLB]". Its main purpose is to assist UPLB in "expanding and optimally utilizing its human, financial, and
material resources towards a focused thrust in agriculture, biotechnology, engineering and environmental sciences
and related academic programs and activities." A memorandum of agreement between UPLBFI and UPLB allows
the former to use available facilities for its activities and the latter to designate from among its staff such personnel
needed by projects.5

Petitioner University of the Philippines (UP) is an institution of higher learning founded in 1908. Under its new
charter, Republic Act 9500,6 approved on April 29, 2008 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, UP was declared as
the national university tasked "to perform its unique and distinctive leadership in higher education and
development." Among others, UP was mandated to "serve as a research university in various fields of expertise and
specialization by conducting basic and applied research and development, and promoting research in various
colleges and universities, and contributing to the dissemination and application of knowledge."7

The other individual respondents are Filipino scientists, professors, public officials and ordinary citizens invoking
their constitutionally guaranteed right to health and balanced ecology, and suing on their behalf and on behalf of
future generations of Filipinos.

Factual Background

Biotechnology is a multi-disciplinary field which may be defined as "any technique that uses living organisms or
substances from those organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop
microorganisms for specific uses."8 Its many applications include agricultural production, livestock, industrial
chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

In 1979, President Ferdinand Marcos approved and provided funding for the establishment of the National
Institute for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH) at UPLB. It is the premier national research and
development (R & D) institution applying traditional and modern biotechnologies in innovating products, processes,
testing and analytical services for agriculture, health, energy, industry and development.9

In 1990, President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) No. 430 creating the National Committee on
Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP). NCBP was tasked, among others, to "identify and evaluate potential hazards
involved in initiating genetic engineering experiments or the introduction of new species and genetically engineered
organisms and recommend measures to minimize risks" and to "formulate and review national policies and
guidelines on biosafety, such as the safe conduct of work on genetic engineering, pests and their genetic materials
for the protection of public health, environment and personnel and supervise the implementation thereof."
 In 1991, NCBP formulated the Philippine Biosafety Guidelines, which governs the regulation of the importation
or introduction, movement and field release of potentially hazardous biological materials in the Philippines. The
guidelines also describe the required physical and biological containment and safety procedures in handling
biological materials. This was followed in 1998 by the "Guidelines on Planned Release of Genetically Manipulated
Organisms (GMOs) and Potentially Harmful Exotic Species (PHES)."10

On December 29, 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into force. This multilateral treaty
recognized that "modern biotechnology has great potential for human well-being if developed and used with
adequate safety measures for the environment and human health." Its main objectives, as spelled out in Article 1,
are the "conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing
of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources."

In January 2000, an agreement was reached on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Cartagena Protocol), a
supplemental to the CBD. The Cartagena Protocol aims "to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of the safe
transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse
effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account risks to human health,
and specifically focusing on transboundary movements."

On May 24, 2000, the Philippines signed the Cartagena Protocol, which came into force on September 11,
2003. On August 14, 2006, the Philippine Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 92 or the "Resolution Concurring
in the Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity."

On July 16, 2001, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a policy statement reiterating the government
policy of promoting the safe and responsible use of modern biotechnology and its products as one of several means
to achieve and sustain food security, equitable access to health services, sustainable and safe environment and
industry development.11

In April 2002, the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued DA-Administrative Order (AO) No. 08 providing rules
and regulations for the importation and release into the environment of plants and plant products derived from the
use of modem biotechnology.

DAO-08-2002 covers the importation or release into the environment of: (1) any plant which has been altered or
produced through the use of modem biotechnology if the donor organism, host organism, or vector or vector agent
belongs to the genera or taxa classified by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) as meeting the definition of plant pest
or is a medium for the introduction of noxious weeds; or (2) any plant or plant product altered through the use of
modem biotechnology which may pose significant risks to human health and the environment based on available
scientific and technical information.

The country's biosafety regulatory system was further strengthened with the issuance of EO No. 514 (EO 514)
on March 17, 2006, "Establishing the National Biosafety Framework (NBF), Prescribing Guidelines for its
Implementation, and Strengthening the NCBP." The NBF shall apply to the development, adoption and
implementation of all biosafety policies, measures and guidelines and in making decisions concerning the research,
development, handling and use, transboundary movement, release into the environment and management of
regulated articles.12

EO 514 expressly provides that, unless amended by the issuing departments or agencies, DAO 08-2002, the
NCBP Guidelines on the Contained Use of Genetically Modified Organisms, except for provisions on potentially
harmful exotic species which were repealed, and all issuances of the Bureau of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on
products of modem biotechnology, shall continue to be in force and effect.13

On September 24, 2010, a Memorandum of Undertaking14 (MOU) was executed between UPLBFI, ISAAA and
UP Mindanao Foundation, Inc.

(UPMFI), in pursuance of a collaborative research and development project on eggplants that are resistant to
the fruit and shoot borer. Other partner agencies involved in the project were UPLB through its Institute of Plant
Breeding, Maharastra Hybrid Seed Company (MAHYCO) of India, Cornell University and the Agricultural
Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII) of US AID.

As indicated in the Field Trial Proposal15 submitted by the implementing institution (UPLB), the pest-resistant
crop subject of the field trial was described as a "bioengineered eggplant." The crystal toxin genes from the soil
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were incorporated into the eggplant (talong) genome to produce the
protein CrylAc which is toxic to the target insect pests. CrylAc protein is said to be highly specific to lepidopteran
larvae such as the fruit and shoot borer (FSB), the most destructive insect pest of eggplant.

Under the regulatory supervision of NCBP, a contained experiment was started in 2007 and officially completed
on March 3, 2009. The NCBP thus issued a Certificate of Completion of Contained Experiment stating that "During
the conduct of the experiment, all the biosafety measures have been complied with and no untoward incident has
occurred."16

BPI issued Biosafety Permits17 to UPLB on March 16, 2010 and June 28, 2010. Thereafter, field testing
of Bt talong commenced on various dates in the following approved trial sites: Kabacan, North Cotabato; Sta. Maria,
Pangasinan; Pili, Camarines Sur; Bago Oshiro, Davao City; and Bay, Laguna.

On April 26, 2012, Greenpeace, MASIPAG and individual respondents (Greenpeace, et al.) filed a petition for
writ of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus with prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Environmental
Protection Order (TEPO). They alleged that the Bt talong field trials violate their constitutional right to health and a
balanced ecology considering that (1) the required environmental compliance certificate under Presidential Decree
(PD) No. 1151 was not secured prior to the project implementation; (2) as a regulated article under DAO 08-
2002, Bt talong is presumed harmful to human health and the environment, and there is no independent, peer-
reviewed study on the safety of Bt talong for human consumption and the environment; (3) a study conducted by
Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini showed adverse effects on rats who were fed Bt corn, while local scientists also
attested to the harmful effects of GMOs to human and animal health; (4) Bt crops can be directly toxic to non-target
species as highlighted by a research conducted in the US which demonstrated that pollen from Bt maize was toxic
to the Monarch butterfly; (5) data from the use of Bt CrylAb maize indicate that beneficial insects have increased
mortality when fed on larvae of a maize pest, the corn borer, which had been fed on Bt, and hence non-target
beneficial species that may feed on eggplant could be similarly affected; (6) data from China show that the use
of Bt crops (Bt cotton) can exacerbate populations of other secondary pests; (7) the built-in pesticides of Bt crops
will lead to Bt resistant pests, thus increasing the use of pesticides contrary to the claims by GMO manufacturers;
and (8) the 200 meters perimeter pollen trap area in the field testing area set by BPI is not sufficient to stop
contamination of nearby non-Bt eggplants because pollinators such as honeybees can fly as far as four kilometers
and an eggplant is 48% insect-pollinated. The full acceptance by the project proponents of the findings in the
MAHYCO Dossier was strongly assailed on the ground that these do not precisely and adequately assess the
numerous hazards posed by Bt talong and its field trial.

Greenpeace, et al. further claimed that the Bt talong field test project did not comply with the required public
consultation under Sections 26 & 27 of the Local Government Code, A random survey by Greenpeace on July 21,
2011 revealed that ten households living in the area immediately around the Bt talong experimental farm in Bay,
Laguna expressed lack of knowledge about the field testing in their locality. The Sangguniang Barangay of
Pangasugan in Baybay, Leyte complained about the lack of information on the nature and uncertainties of
the Bt talong field testing in their barangay. The Davao City Government likewise opposed the project due to lack of
transparency and public consultation. It ordered the uprooting of Bt eggplants at the trial site and disposed them
strictly in accordance with protocols relayed by the BPI through Ms. Merle Palacpac. Such action highlighted the city
government's policy on "sustainable and safe practices." On the other hand, the Sangguniang Bayan of Sta.
Barbara, Iloilo passed a resolution suspending the field testing due to the following: lack of public consultation;
absence of adequate study to determine the effect of Bt talong field testing on friendly insects; absence of risk
assessment on the potential impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops on human health and the environment; and
the possibility of cross-pollination of Bt eggplants with native species or variety of eggplants, and serious threat to
human health if these products were sold to the market.

Greenpeace, et al. argued that this case calls for the application of the precautionary principle, the Bt talong field
testing being a classic environmental case where scientific evidence as to the health, environmental and socio-
economic safety is insufficient or uncertain and preliminary scientific evaluation indicates reasonable grounds for
concern that there are potentially dangerous effects on human health and the environment.

The following reliefs are thus prayed for:

a. Upon the filing [of this petition], a Temporary Environment Protection Order should be issued: (i)
enjoining public respondents BPI and FPA of the DA from processing for field testing, and registering as
herbicidal product, Bt talong in the Philippines; (ii) stopping all pending field testing
of Bt talong anywhere in the Philippines; and (in) ordering the uprooting of planted Bt talong for field
trials as their very presence pose significant and irreparable risks to human health and the
environment.

b. Upon the filing [of this petition], issue a writ of continuing mandamus commanding:

(i) Respondents to submit to and undergo the process of environmental impact

statement system under the Environmental Management Bureau;

(ii) Respondents to submit independent, comprehensive, and rigid risk

assessment, field tests report, regulatory compliance reports and supporting
documents, and other material particulars of the Bt talong field trial;
 (iii) Respondents to submit all its issued certifications on public information, public
consultation, public participation, and consent of the local government units in the
barangays, municipalities, and provinces affected by the field testing of Bt talong;

(iv) Respondent regulator, in coordination with relevant government agencies and

in consultation with stakeholders, to submit an acceptable draft of an amendment of
the National Bio-Safety Framework of the Philippines, and DA Administrative Order No.
08, defining or incorporating an independent, transparent, and comprehensive
scientific and socio-economic risk assessment, public information, consultation, and
participation, and providing for their effective implementation, in accord with
international safety standards; and

(v) Respondent BPI of the DA, in coordination with relevant government agencies,
to conduct balanced nationwide public information on the nature
of Bt talong and Bt talong field trial, and a survey of social acceptability of the same.

c. Upon filing [of this petition], issue a writ of kalikasan commanding Respondents to file their
respective returns and explain why they should not be judicially sanctioned for violating or threatening
to violate or allowing the violation of the above-enumerated laws, principles, and international principle
and standards, or committing acts, which would result into an environmental damage of such
magnitude as to prejudice the life, health, or property of petitioners in particular and of the Filipino
people in general.

d. After hearing and judicial determination, to cancel all Bt talong field experiments that are found to
be violating the abovementioned laws, principles, and international standards; and recommend to
Congress curative legislations to effectuate such order.18

On May 2, 2012, the Court issued the writ of kalikasan against ISAAA, Environmental Management Bureau
(EMB)/BPI/Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) and UPLB,[18-a] ordering them to make a verified return within a
non-extendible period often (10) days, as provided in Sec. 8, Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure for Environmental
Cases.19

ISAAA, EMB/BPI/FPA, UPLBFI and UPMFI filed their respective verified returns. They all argued that the
issuance of writ of kalikasan is not proper because in the implementation of the Bt talong project, all environmental
laws were complied with, including public consultations in the affected communities, to ensure that the people's right
to a balanced and healthful ecology was protected and respected. They also asserted that the Bt talong project is
not covered by the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) Law and that Bt talong field trials will not
significantly affect the quality of the environment nor pose a hazard to human health. ISAAA contended that the
1aшphi1

NBF amply safeguards the environment policies and goals promoted by the PEIS Law. On its part, UPLBFI asserted
that there is a "plethora of scientific works and literature, peer-reviewed, on the safety of Bt talong for human
consumption."20 UPLB, which filed an Answer21 to the petition before the CA, adopted said position of UPLBFI.

ISAAA argued that the allegations regarding the safety of Bt talong as food are irrelevant in the field trial stage
as none of the eggplants will be consumed by humans or animals, and all materials that will not be used for
analyses will be chopped, boiled and buried following the Biosafety Permit requirements. It cited a 50-year history of
safe use and consumption of agricultural products sprayed with commercial Bt microbial pesticides and a 14-year
history of safe consumption of food and feed derived from Bt crops. Also mentioned is the almost 2 million hectares
of land in the Philippines which have been planted with Bt corn since 2003, and the absence of documented
significant and negative impact to the environment and human health. The statements given by scientists and
experts in support of the allegations of Greenpeace, et al. on the safety of Bt corn was also addressed by citing the
contrary findings in other studies which have been peer-reviewed and published in scientific journals.

On the procedural aspect, ISAAA sought the dismissal of the petition for writ of kalikasan for non-observance of
the rule on hierarchy of courts and the allegations therein being mere assertions and baseless conclusions of law.
EMB, BPI and FPA questioned the legal standing of Greenpeace, et al. in filing the petition for writ of kalikasan as
they do not stand to suffer any direct injury as a result of the Bt talong field tests. They likewise prayed for the denial
of the petition for continuing mandamus for failure to state a cause of action and for utter lack of merit.

UPMFI also questioned the legal standing of Greenpeace, et al. for failing to allege that they have been
prejudiced or damaged, or their constitutional rights to health and a balanced ecology were violated or threatened to
be violated by the conduct of Bt talong field trials. Insofar as the field trials in Davao City, the actual field trials at
Bago Oshiro started on November 25, 2010 but the plants were uprooted by Davao City officials on December 17-
18, 2010. There were no further field trials conducted and hence no violation of constitutional rights of persons or
damage to the environment, with respect to Davao City, occurred which will justify the issuance of a writ
of kalikasan. UPMFI emphasized that under the MOU, its responsibility was only to handle the funds for the project
in their trial site. It pointed out that in the Field Trial Proposal, Public Information Sheet, Biosafety Permit for Field
Testing, and Terminal Report (Davao City Government) by respondent Leonardo R. Avila III, nowhere does UPMFI
appear either as project proponent, partner or implementing arm. Since UPMFI, which is separate and distinct from
UP, undertook only the fund management of Bt talong field test project the duration of which expired on July 1, 2011,
it had nothing to do with any field trials conducted in other parts of the country.

Finally, it is argued that the precautionary principle is not applicable considering that the field testing is only a
part of a continuing study being done to ensure that the field trials have no significant and negative impact on the
environment. There is thus no resulting environmental damage of such magnitude as to prejudice the life, health,
property of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces. Moreover, the issues raised by Greenpeace, et al. largely
involve technical matters which pertain to the special competence of BPI whose determination thereon is entitled to
great respect and even finality.

By Resolution dated July 10, 2012, the Court referred this case to the CA for acceptance of the return of the writ
and for hearing, reception of evidence and rendition of judgment.22

CA Proceedings and Judgment

At the preliminary conference held on September 12, 2012, the parties submitted the following procedural
issues: (1) whether or not Greenpeace, et al. have legal standing to file the petition for writ of kalikasan; (2) whether
or not said petition had been rendered moot and academic by the alleged termination of the Bt talong field testing;
and (3) whether or not the case presented a justiciable controversy.

Under Resolution23 dated October 12, 2012, the CA resolved that: (1) Greenpeace, et al. possess the requisite
legal standing to file the petition for writ of kalikasan; (2) assuming arguendo that the field trials have already been
terminated, the case is not yet moot since it is capable of repetition yet evading review; and (3) the alleged non-
compliance with environmental and local government laws present justiciable controversies for resolution by the
court.

The CA then proceeded to hear the merits of the case, adopting the "hot-tub" method wherein the expert
witnesses of both parties testify at the same time. Greenpeace, et al. presented the following as expert witnesses:
Dr. Ben Malayang III (Dr. Malayang), Dr. Charito Medina (Dr. Medina), and Dr. Tushar Chakraborty (Dr.
Chakraborty). On the opposing side were the expert witnesses in the persons of Dr. Reynaldo Ebora (Dr. Ebora), Dr.
Saturnina Halos (Dr. Halos), Dr. Flerida Cariño (Dr. Cariño), and Dr. Peter Davies (Dr. Davies). Other witnesses who
testified were: Atty. Carmelo Segui (Atty. Segui), Ms. Merle Palacpac (Ms. Palacpac), Mr. Mario Navasero (Mr.
Navasero) and Dr. Randy Hautea (Dr. Hautea).

On November 20, 2012, Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, Inc. (BCPI) filed an Urgent Motion for Leave
to Intervene as Respondent.24 It claimed to have a legal interest in the subject matter of the case as a broad-based
coalition of advocates for the advancement of modern biotechnology in the Philippines.

In its Resolution25 dated January 16, 2013, the CA denied BCPI's motion for intervention stating that the latter
had no direct and specific interest in the conduct of Bt talong field trials.

On May 17, 2013, the CA rendered a Decision in favor of Greenpeace, et al., as follows:

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing premises, judgment is hereby rendered by

us GRANTING the petition filed in this case. The respondents are DIRECTED to:

(a) Permanently cease and desist from further conducting bt talong field trials; and

(b) Protect, preserve, rehabilitate and restore the environment in accordance with the
foregoing judgment of this Court.

No costs.

SO ORDERED.26

The CA found that existing regulations issued by the DA and the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) are insufficient to guarantee the safety of the environment and health of the people. Concurring with Dr.
Malayang's view that the government must exercise precaution "under the realm of public policy" and beyond
scientific debate, the appellate court noted the possible irreversible effects of the field trials and the introduction
of Bt talong to the market.

After scrutinizing the parties' arguments and evidence, the CA concluded that the precautionary principle set
forth in Section 1, Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases27 finds relevance in the present
controversy. Stressing the fact that the "over-all safety guarantee of the bt talong" remains unknown, the appellate
court cited the testimony of Dr. Cariño who admitted that the product is not yet safe for consumption because a
safety assessment is still to be done. Again, the Decision quoted from Dr. Malayang who testified that the question
of Bt talong's safety demands maximum precaution and utmost prudence, bearing in mind the country's rich
biodiversity. Amid the uncertainties surrounding the Bt talong, the CA thus upheld the primacy of the people's
constitutional right to health and a balanced ecology.

Denying the motions for reconsideration filed by ISAAA, EMB/BPI/FPA, UPLB and UPLBFI, the CA in its
Resolution dated September 20, 2013 rejected the argument of UPLB that the appellate court's ruling violated
UPLB's constitutional right to academic freedom. The appellate court pointed out that the writ of kalikasan originally
issued by this Court did not stop research on Bt talong but only the particular procedure adopted in doing field trials
and only at this time when there is yet no law in the form of a congressional enactment for ensuring its safety and
levels of acceptable risks when introduced into the open environment. Since the writ stops the field trials
of Bt talong as a procedure but does not stop Bt talong research, there is no assault on academic freedom.

The CA then justified its ruling by expounding on the theory that introducing a genetically modified plant into our
ecosystem is an "ecologically imbalancing act." Thus:

We suppose that it is of universal and general knowledge that an ecosystem is a universe of biotic
(living) and non-biotic things interacting as a living community in a particular space and time. In the
ecosystem are found specific and particular biotic and non-biotic entities which depend on each other
for the biotic entities to survive and maintain life. A critical element for biotic entities to maintain life
would be that their populations are in a proper and natural proportion to others so that, in the given
limits of available non-biotic entities in the ecosystem, no one population overwhelms another. In the
case of the Philippines, it is considered as one of the richest countries in terms of biodiversity. It has so
many plants and animals. It also has many kinds of other living things than many countries in the world.
We do not fully know how all these living things or creatures interact among themselves. But, for
sure, there is a perfect and sound balance of our biodiversity as created or brought about by
God out of His infinite and absolute wisdom. In other words, every living creature has been in
existence or has come into being for a purpose. So, we humans are not supposed to tamper with any
one element in this swirl of interrelationships among living things in our ecosystem. Now, introducing a
genetically modified plant in our intricate world of plants by humans certainly appears to be an
ecologically imbalancing act. The damage that it will cause may be irreparable and irreversible.

At this point, it is significant to note that during the hearing conducted by this Court on November
20, 2012 wherein the testimonies of seven experts were given, Dr. Peter J. Davies (Ph.D in Plant
[Physiology]), Dr. Tuskar Chakraborty (Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Dr. Charito
Medina (Ph.D in Environmental Biology), Dr. Reginaldo Ebora (Ph.D in Entomology), Dr. Flerida Cariño
(Ph.D in Insecticide Toxicology), Dr. Ben Malayang (Ph.D in Wildland Resource Science) and Dr.
Saturnina Halos (Ph.D in Genetics) were in unison in admitting that bt talong is an altered plant. x x x

xxxx

Thus, it is evident and clear that bt talong is a technology involving the deliberate alteration of an
otherwise natural state of affairs. It is designed and intended to alter natural feed-feeder relationships
of the eggplant. It is a deliberate genetic reconstruction of the eggplant to alter its natural order which is
meant to eliminate one feeder (the borer) in order to give undue advantage to another feeder (the
humans). The genetic transformation is one designed to make bt talong toxic to its pests (the targeted
organisms). In effect, bt talong kills its targeted organisms. Consequently, the testing or introduction
of bt talong into the Philippines, by its nature and intent, is a grave and present danger to (and
an assault on) the Filipinos' constitutional right to a balanced ecology because, in any book and
by any yardstick, it is an ecologically imbalancing event or phenomenon. It is a willful and deliberate
tampering of a naturally ordained feed-feeder relationship in our environment. It destroys the balance of
our biodiversity. Because it violates the conjunct right of our people to a balanced ecology, the whole
constitutional right of our people (as legally and logically construed) is violated.

Of course, the bt talong's threat to the human health of the Filipinos as of now remains uncertain.
This is because while, on one hand, no Filipinos has ever eaten it yet, and so, there is no factual
evidence of it actually causing acute or chronic harm to any or a number of ostensibly identifiable
perms, on the other hand, there is correspondingly no factual evidence either of it not causing harm to
anyone. However, in a study published on September 20, 2012 in "Food and Chemical Toxicology", a
team of scientists led by Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini from the University of Caen and backed by the
France-based Committee of Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering came up
with a finding that rats fed with Roundup-tolerant genetically modified corn for two years developed
cancers, tumors and multiple organ damage. The seven expert witnesses who testified in this Court in
the hearing conducted on November 20, 2012 were duly confronted with this finding and they were not
able to convincingly rebut it. That is why we, in deciding this case, applied the precautionary principle in
granting the petition filed in the case at bench.
 Prescinding from the foregoing premises, therefore, because one conjunct right in the whole
Constitutional guarantee is factually and is undoubtedly at risk, and the other still factually uncertain,
the entire constitutional right of the Filipino people to a balanced and healthful ecology is at risk. Hence,
the issuance of the writ of kalikasan and the continuing writ of mandamus is justified and
warranted.28 (Additional emphasis supplied.)

Petitioners' Arguments

G.R. No. 209271

ISAAA advances the following arguments in support of its petition:

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN REFUSING TO DISMISS THE PETITION FOR
WRIT OF CONTINUING MANDAMUS AND WRIT OF KALIKASAN CONSIDERING THAT THE SAME
IS ALREADY MOOT AND ACADEMIC.

II

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN REFUSING TO DISMISS THE PETITION FOR
WRIT OF CONTINUING MANDAMUS AND WRIT OF KALIKASAN CONSIDERING THAT THE SAME
RAISES POLITICAL QUESTIONS.

A. IN SEEKING TO COMPEL THE REGULATORY AGENCIES "TO SUBMIT AN ACCEPTABLE

DRAFT OF THE AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL BIO-SAFETY FRAMEWORK OF THE
PHILIPPINES, AND DA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 08," AND IN PRAYING THAT THE
COURT OF APPEALS "RECOMMEND TO CONGRESS CURATIVE LEGISLATIONS,"
RESPONDENTS SEEK TO REVIEW THE WISDOM OF THE PHILIPPINE REGULATORY
SYSTEM FOR GMOS, WHICH THE COURT OF APPEALS IS WITHOUT JURISDICTION TO DO
SO.

B. WORSE, THE COURT OF APPEALS EVEN HELD THAT THERE ARE NO LAWS GOVERNING
THE STUDY, INTRODUCTION AND USE OF GMOS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND COMPLETELY
DISREGARDED E.O. NO. 514 AND DAO 08-2002.

III

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN REFUSING TO DISMISS THE PETITION FOR
WRIT OF CONTINUING MANDAMUS AND WRIT OF KALIKASAN CONSIDERING THAT
RESPONDENTS FAILED TO EXHAUST ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.

IV

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN REFUSING TO DISMISS THE PETITION FOR
WRIT OF CONTINUING MANDAMUS AND WRIT OF KALIKASAN CONSIDERING THAT PRIMARY
JURISDICTION OVER THE SAME LIES WITH THE REGULATORY AGENCIES.

THE COURT OF APPEALS EXHIBITED BIAS AND PARTIALITY AND PREJUDGED THE INSTANT
CASE WHEN IT RENDERED THE ASSAILED DECISION DATED 17 MAY 2013
AND RESOLUTION DATED 20 SEPTEMBER 2013.

VI

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN GRANTING THE WRIT OF KALIKASAN IN FAVOR
OF RESPONDENTS.

A. THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD SHOWS THAT THE PROJECT PROPONENTS OF

THE BT TALONG FIELD TRIALS COMPLIED WITH ALL ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS, RULES AND
REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO A BALANCED AND
HEALTHFUL ECOLOGY ARE PROTECTED AND RESPECTED.

B. THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD SHOWS THAT THE BT TALONG FIELD TRIALS DO NOT CAUSE
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND DO NOT PREJUDICE THE LIFE, HEALTH AND PROPERTY
OF INHABITANTS OF TWO OR MORE PROVINCES OR CITIES.
 C. THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN APPLYING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
IN THIS CASE DESPITE THE FACT THAT RESPONDENTS FAILED TO PRESENT AN IOTA OF
EVIDENCE TO PROVE THEIR CLAIM.

VII

THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN GRANTING A WRIT OF CONTINUING

MANDAMUS AGAINST PETITIONER ISAAA.

VIII

THE COURT OF APPEALS' DECISION DATED 17 MAY 2013 AND RESOLUTION DATED 20
SEPTEMBER 2013 IS AN AFFRONT TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.29

G.R. No. 209276

Petitioners EMB, BPI and FPA, represented by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) assails the CA Decision
granting the petition for writ of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus despite the failure of Greenpeace, et al.
(respondents) to prove the requisites for their issuance.

Petitioners contend that while respondents presented purported studies that supposedly show signs of toxicity in
genetically engineered eggplant and other crops, these studies are insubstantial as they were not published in peer-
reviewed scientific journals. Respondents thus failed to present evidence to prove their claim that the Bt talong field
trials violated environmental laws and rules.

As to the application of the precautionary principle, petitioners asserted that its application in this case is
misplaced. The paper by Prof. Seralini which was relied upon by the CA, was not formally offered in evidence. In
volunteering the said article to the parties, petitioners lament that the CA manifested its bias towards respondents'
position and did not even consider the testimony of Dr. Davies who stated that "Seralini's work has been refuted by
International committees of scientists"30 as shown by published articles critical of Seralini's work.

Petitioners aver that there was no damage to human health since no Bt talong will be ingested by any human
being during the field trial stage. Besides, if the results of said testing are adverse, petitioners will not allow the
release of Bt talong to the environment, in line with the guidelines set by EO 514. The CA thus misappreciated the
regulatory process as approval for field testing does not automatically mean approval for propagation of the same
product. And even assuming that the field trials may indeed cause adverse environmental or health effects, the
requirement of unlawful act or omission on the part of petitioners or any of the proponents, was still absent.
Respondents clearly failed to prove there was any unlawful deviation from the provisions of DAO 08-2002. The BPI's
factual finding on the basis of risk assessment on the Bt talong project should thus be accorded respect, if not
finality by the courts.

Petitioners likewise fault the CA in giving such ambiguous and general directive for them to protect, preserve,
rehabilitate and restore the environment, lacking in specifics which only indicates that there was really nothing to
preserve, rehabilitate or restore as there was nothing damaged or adversely affected in the first place. As to the
supposed inadequacy and ineffectiveness of existing regulations, these are all political questions and policy issues
best left to the discretion of the policy-makers, the Legislative and Executive branches of government. Petitioners
add that the CA treads on judicial legislation when it recommended the re-examination of country's existing laws and
regulations governing studies and research on GMOs.

GR. No. 209301

Petitioner UPLBFI argues that respondents failed to adduce the quantum of evidence necessary to prove actual
or imminent injury to them or the environment as to render the controversy ripe for judicial determination. It points
out that nowhere in the testimonies during the "hot-tub" presentation of expert witnesses did the witnesses for
respondents claim actual or imminent injury to them or to the environment as a result of the Bt talong field tests, as
they spoke only of injury in the speculative, imagined kind without any factual basis. Further, the petition for writ
of kalikasan has been mooted by the termination of the field trials as of August 10, 2012.

Finding the CA decision as a judgment not based on fact, UPLBFI maintains that by reason of the nature,
character, scale, duration, design, processes undertaken, risk assessments and strategies employed, results
heretofore recorded, scientific literature, the safeguards and other precautionary measures undertaken and applied,
the Bt talong field tests did not or could not have violated the right of respondents to a balanced and healthful
ecology. The appellate court apparently misapprehended the nature, character, design of the field trials as one for
"consumption" rather than for "field testing" as defined in DAO 08-2002, the sole purpose of which is for the
"efficacy" of the eggplant variety's resistance to the FSB.
 Against the respondents' bare allegations, UPLBFI submits the following "specific facts borne by competent
evidence on record" (admitted exhibits)31:

118. Since the technology's inception 50 years ago, studies have shown that genetically modified
crops, including Bt talong, significantly reduce the use of pesticides by farmers in growing
eggplants, lessening pesticide poisoning to humans.

119. Pesticide use globally has decreased in the last [14-15] years owing to the use of insect-resistant
genetically modified crops. Moreover, that insect-resistant genetically modified crops significantly
reduce the use of pesticides in growing plants thus lessening pesticide poisoning in humans,
reducing pesticide load in the environment and encouraging more biodiversity in farms.

120. Global warming is likewise reduced as more crops can be grown.

121. Transgenic Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) cotton has had a major impact on the Australian cotton
industry by largely controlling Lepidopteran pests. To date, it had no significant impact on the
invertebrate community studied.

122. Feeding on CrylAcc contaminated non-target herbivores does not harm predatory heteropterans
and, therefore, cultivation of Bt cotton may provide an opportunity for conservation of these
predators in cotton ecosystems by reducing insecticide use.

123. The Bt protein in Bt corn only affects target insects and that Bt corn pollens do not negatively
affect monarch butterflies.

124. The field trials will not cause "contamination" as feared by the petitioners because flight distance
of the pollinators is a deterrent to cross pollination. Studies reveal that there can be no cross
pollination more than a fifty (50) meter distance.

xxxx

135. There is a 50 year history of safe use and consumption of agricultural products sprayed with
commercial Bt microbial pesticides and a 14 year history of safe consumption of food and feed
derived from Bt crops.

xxxx

140. In separate reviews by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and the Food Standards
Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), the "work" of one Prof. Seralini relied upon by [respondents]
was dismissed as "scientifically flawed", thus providing no plausible basis to the proposition
that Bt talong is dangerous to public health.

141. In a learned treatise by James Clive entitled "Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops:
2011," the Philippines was cited to be the first country in the ASEAN region to implement a
regulatory system for transgenic crops (which includes DAO 08-[2]002). Accordingly, the said
regulatory system has also served as a model for other countries in the region and other
developing countries outside of Asia.

On the precautionary principle, UPLBFI contends that the CA misapplied it in this case. The testimonial and
documentary evidence of respondents, taken together, do not amount to "scientifically plausible" evidence of threats
of serious and irreversible damage to the environment. In fact, since BPI started regulating GM crops in 2002, they
have monitored 171 field trials all over the Philippines and said agency has not observed any adverse environmental
effect caused by said field trials. Plainly, respondents failed to show proof of "specific facts" of environmental
damage of the magnitude contemplated under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases as to warrant
sanctions over the Bt talong field trials.

Lastly, UPLBFI avers that the Bt talong field trial was an exercise of the constitutional liberty of scientists and
other academicians of UP, of which they have been deprived without due process of law. Stressing that a possibility
is not a fact, UPLBFI deplores the CA decision's pronouncement of their guilt despite the preponderance of
evidence on the environmental safety of the field trials, as evident from its declaration that "the over-all safety
guarantee of Bt talong remains to be still unknown." It thus asks if in the meantime, petitioners must bear the judicial
stigma of being cast as violators of the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology for an injury or
damage unsubstantiated by evidence of scientific plausibility.

G.R. No. 209430

Petitioner UP reiterates UPLBFI's argument that the Bt talong field testing was conducted in the exercise of
UPLB's academic freedom, which is a constitutional right. In this case, there is nothing based on evidence on record
or overwhelming public welfare concern, such as the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology, which
would warrant restraint on UPLB's exercise of academic freedom. Considering that UPLB complied with all laws,
rules and regulations regarding the application and conduct of field testing of GM eggplant, and was performing
such field tests within the prescribed limits of DAO 08-2002, and there being no harm to the environment or
prejudice that will be caused to the life, health or property of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces, to restrain
it from performing the said field testing is unjustified.

Petitioner likewise objects to the CA's application of the precautionary principle in this case, in violation of the
standards set by the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases. It points out that the Bt eggplants are not yet
intended to be introduced into the Philippine ecosystem nor to the local market for human consumption.

Cited were the testimonies of two expert witnesses presented before the CA: Dr. Navasero who is an
entomologist and expert in integrated pest management and insect taxonomy, and Dr. Davies, a member of the
faculty of the Department of Plant Biology and Horticulture at Cornell University for 43 years and served as a senior
science advisor in agricultural technology to the United States Department of State. Both had testified that based on
generally accepted and scientific methodology, the field trial of Bt crops do not cause damage to the environment or
human health.

Petitioner assails the CA in relying instead on the conjectural statements of Dr. Malayang. It asserts that the CA
could not support its Decision and Resolution on the pure conjectures and imagination of one witness. Basic is the
rule that a decision must be supported by evidence on record.

Respondents' Consolidated Comment

Respondents aver that Bt talong became the subject of public protest in our country precisely because of the
serious safety concerns on the impact of Bt talong toxin on human and animal health and the environment
through field trial contamination. They point out that the inherent and potential risks and adverse effects of GM crops
are recognized in the Cartagena Protocol and our biosafety regulations (EO 514 and DAO 08-2002). Contamination
may occur through pollination, ingestion by insects and other animals, water and soil run off, human error,
mechanical accident and even by stealing was inevitable in growing Bt talong in an open environment for field trial.
Such contamination may manifest even after many years and in places very far away from the trial sites.

Contrary to petitioners' claim that they did not violate any law or regulation, or unlawful omission, respondents
assert that, in the face of scientific uncertainties on the safety and effects of Bt talong, petitioners omitted their
crucial duties to conduct environmental impact assessment (EIA); evaluate health impacts; get the free, prior and
informed consent of the people in the host communities; and provide remedial and liability processes in the approval
of the biosafety permit and conduct of the field trials in its five sites located in five provinces. These omissions have
put the people and the environment at serious and irreversible risks.

Respondents cite the numerous studies contained in "Adverse Impacts of Transgenic Crops/Foods: A
Compilation of Scientific References with Abstracts" printed by Coalition for a GMO-Free India; a study on Bt corn in
the Philippines, "Socio-economic Impacts of Genetically Modified Corn in the Philippines" published by MASIPAG in
2013; and the published report of the investigation conducted by Greenpeace, "White Corn in the Philippines:
Contaminated with Genetically Modified Corn Varieties" which revealed positive results for samples purchased from
different stores in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao, indicating that they were contaminated with GM corn varieties,
specifically the herbicide tolerant and Bt insect resistant genes from Monsanto, the world's largest biotech company
based in the US.

To demonstrate the health hazards posed by Bt crops, respondents cite the following sources: the studies of
Drs. L. Moreno-Fierros, N. Garcia, R. Gutierrez, R. Lopez-Revilla, and RI Vazquez-Padron, all from the Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; the conclusion made by Prof. Eric-Gilles Seralini of the University of Caen, France,
who is also the president of the Scientific Council of the Committee for Independent Research and Information on
Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), in his review, commissioned by Greenpeace, of Mahyco's data submitted in
support of the application to grow and market Bt eggplant in India; and the medical interpretations of Prof. Seralini's
findings by Filipino doctors Dr. Romeo Quijano of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital and
Dr. Wency Kiat, Jr. of St. Luke's Medical Center (Joint Affidavit).

According to respondents, the above findings and interpretations on serious health risks are strengthened by the
findings of a review of the safety claims in the MAHYCO Dossier authored by Prof. David A. Andow of the University
of Minnesota, an expert in environmental assessment in crop science. The review was made upon the request in
2010 of His Honorable Shri Jairam Ramesh of the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India, where MAHYCO is
based. MAHYCO is the corporate creator and patent owner of the Bt gene inserted in Bt talong.

The conclusions of health hazards from the above studies were summarized32 by respondents, as follows:
 Studies/interpretation
Conclusion/interpretation
by
Drs. L. Moreno-Fierros, For Bt modified crops (like Bt talong), there is concern over its potential
N. allergenicity. CrylAcc (the gene inserted in Bt talong) protoxin is a potent
Garcia, R. Gutierrez, R. immunogen (triggers immune response); the protoxin is immunogenic by
Lopez-Revilla, and RI both the intraperitoneal (injected) and intragastric (ingested) route; the
Vazquez-Padron immune response to the protoxin is both systemic and mucosal;
and CrylAcc protoxin binds to surface proteins in the mouse small intestine.
These suggest that extreme caution is required in the use of CrylAcc in
food crops.
Prof. Eric-Gilles Seralini His key findings showed statistical significant differences between group of
animals fed GM and non-GM eggplant that raise food safety concerns
and warrant further investigation.
Dr. Romeo Quijano & Dr. Interpreting Prof. Seralini's findings, the altered condition of
Wency Kiat, Jr. rats symptomatically indicate hazards for human health.
Prof. David A. Andow The MAHYCO dossier is inadequate to support the needed environmental
risk assessment; MAHYCO's food safety assessment does not comply with
international standards; and that MAHYCO relied on dubious scientific
assumptions and disregarded real environmental threats.

As to environmental effects, respondents said these include the potential for living modified organisms, such
as Bt talong tested in the field or released into the environment, to contaminate non-GM traditional varieties and
other wild eggplant relatives and turn them into novel pests, outcompete and replace their wild relatives, increase
dependence on pesticides, or spread their introduced genes to weedy relatives, potentially creating superweeds,
and kill beneficial insects.

Respondents then gave the following tabulated summary33 of field trial contamination cases drawn from various
news reports and some scientific literature submitted to the court:

What happened Impact How did it occur

During 2006 and 2007, traces of In July 2011, Bayer Field trials were conducted
three varieties of unapproved eventually agreed to a between the mid-1990s and
genetically modified rice owned by $750m US dollar early 2000s. The US Department
Bayer Crop Science were found in settlement resolving claims of Agriculture (USDA) reported
US rice exports in over 30 countries with about 11,000 US these field trials were the likely
worldwide. farmers for market losses sources of the contamination
and clean-up costs. The between the modified rice and
total costs to the rice conventional varieties. However,
industry are likely to have it was unable to conclude [if it]
been over $1bn worldwide. was caused by gene flow (cross
pollination) or mechanical
mixing.
In 2009, unauthorised GElinseed Canada lost exports to its In the late 1980s a public
(also known as 'flax') produced by a main European market research institution, the Crop
public research institution was worth hundreds of millions Development Centre in
discovered in food in several EU of dollars and non- Saskatoon, Saskat-chewan,
countries, having been imported from GElinseed farmers have developed a GElinseed variety
Canada. faced huge costs and FP96—believed to be the origin
market losses. of the contamination.
During 2004, the Thai government Exports of papaya to GEpapaya is not grown
found that papaya samples from 85 Europe have been hit commercially in Thailand, so it
farms were genetically modified. The because of fears that was clear that the contamination
contamination continued into 2006 contamination could have originated from the government
and it is likely that the GE spread. The Thai station experimentally breeding
contamination reached the food government said it was GE papaya trees. Tests that
chain. taking action to destroy the showed that one third of papaya
contaminated trees. orchards tested in the eastern
province of Rayong and the
north-eastern provinces of
 Mahasarakham, Chaiyaphum
and Kalasinhad GE-
contaminated papaya seeds in
July 2005. The owners said that
a research station gave them the
seeds.
In the US in 2002, seeds from a Prodigene, the company Seeds from the GEmaize crop
GEmaize pharma-crop containing a responsible, was fined sprouted voluntarily in the
pig vaccine grew independently $3m for tainting half a following season.
among normal soybean crops. million bushels of soya
bean with a trial vaccine
used to prevent stomach
upsets in piglets.
Prodigene agreed to pay a
fine of $250,000 and to
repay the government for
the cost of incinerating the
soya bean that had been
contaminated with
genetically altered corn.
In 2005, Greenpeace discovered that The European The source of the contamination
GE rice seeds had been illegally sold Commission adopted appears to have been the result
in Hubei, China. Then, in 2006, GE emergency measures (on of illegal planting of GEseeds.
rice event Bt63 was found in baby 15 August 2008) to require Seed companies in China found
food sold in Beijing, Guangzhou and compulsory certification for to have sold GErice hybrid seed
Hong Kong. In late 2006, GE rice the imports of Chinese rice to farmers operated directly
Bt63 was found to be contaminating products that could contain under the university developing
exports in Austria, France, the UK the unauthorised GE rice GM rice. It has been reported
and Germany. In 2007 it was again Bt63. that the key scientist sat on the
found in EU imports to Cyprus, board of one GEseed company.
Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden. The Chinese government
took several measures to
try to stop the
contamination, which
included punishing seed
companies, confiscating
GEseed, destroying
GErice grown in the field
and tightening control over
the food chain.
In 2005, the European Commission The European The contamination arose
announced that illegal Bt10 GEmaize Commission blocked US because Syngenta's quality
produced by GEseed company grain import unless they control procedures did not
Syngenta had entered the European could be guaranteed free differentiate between Bt10 and
food chain. The GEmaize Bt10 of Bt10. The USDA fined its sister commercial line, Bt11.
contains a marker gene that codes for Syngenta $375,000. There As a result, the experimental and
the widely-used antibiotic ampicillin, are no figures for the wider substantially different Bt10 line
while the Bt11 does not. According to costs. was mistakenly used in breeding.
the international Codex Alimentarius The error was detected four
Guideline for Conduct of Food Safety years later when one of the seed
Assessment of Foods Derived from companies developing Bt11
Recombinant-DNA:Plants: 'Antibiotic varieties adopted more
resistance genes used in food sophisticated analytical
production that encode resistance to techniques.
clinically used antibiotics should not
be present in foods' because it
increases the risk of antibiotic
resistance in the population.

Refuting the claim of petitioners that contamination is nil or minimal because the scale of Bt talong field trial is
isolated, restricted and that "each experiment per site per season consists of a maximum net area planted
to Bt eggplant of between 480 sq. meters to 1,080 sq. meters,"34 respondents emphasize that as shown by the
above, contamination knows no size and boundaries in an open environment.
 With regard to the required geographical coverage of environmental damage for the issuance of writ
of kalikasan, respondents assert that while the Bt talong field trials were conducted in only five provinces, the
environmental damage prejudicial to health extends beyond the health of the present generation of inhabitants in
those provinces.

On petitioners' insistence in demanding that those who allege injury must prove injury, respondents said that
biosafety evidence could not be readily contained in a corpus delicti to be presented in court. Indeed, the inherent
and potential risks and adverse effects brought by GMOs are not like dead bodies or wounds that are immediately
and physically identifiable to an eyewitness and which are resulting from a common crime. Precisely, this is why the
Cartagena Protocol's foundation is on the precautionary principle and development of sound science and its links, to
social and human rights law through its elements of public awareness, public participation and public right to know.
This is also why the case was brought under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases and not under
ordinary or other rules, on the grounds of violation of the rights of the Filipino people to health, to a balanced and
healthful ecology, to information on matters of national concern, and to participation. The said Rules specifically
provides that the appreciation of evidence in a case like this must be guided by the precautionary principle.

As to the non-exhaustion of administrative remedies being raised by petitioners as ground to dismiss the
present petition, respondents said that nowhere in the 22 sections of DAO 08-2002 that one can find a remedy to
appeal the decision of the DA issuing the field testing permit. What is only provided for is a mechanism for
applicants of a permit, not stakeholders like farmers, traders and consumers to appeal a decision by the BPI-DA in
case of denial of their application for field testing. Moreover, DAO 08-2002 is silent on appeal after the issuance of
the biosafety permit.

Finally, on the propriety of the writ of continuing mandamus, respondents argue that EO 514 explicitly states that
the application of biosafety regulations shall be made in accordance with existing laws and the guidelines therein
provided. Hence, aside from risk assessment requirement of the biosafety regulations, pursuant to the PEISS law
and Sections 12 and 13 of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, an environmental impact statement (EIS) is
required and an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) is necessary before such Bt crop field trials can be
conducted.

Petitioners' Replies

G.R. No. 209271

ISAAA contends that the Precautionary Principle and the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases do not
empower courts to adjudicate a controversy that is moot and academic. It points out that respondents failed to
satisfy all the requirements of the exception to the rule on actual controversies. The Biosafety Permit is valid for only
two years, while the purported stages in the commercialization, propagation and registration of Bt talong still cannot
confer jurisdiction on the CA to decide a moot and academic case.

As to the propriety of the writ of continuing mandamus, ISAAA maintains that public petitioners do not have
"mandatory" and "ministerial" duty to re-examine and reform the biosafety regulatory system, and to propose
curative legislation. The law (EO 514) cited by respondents does not impose such duty on public petitioners. As for
the Cartagena Protocol, it laid down a procedure for the evaluation of the Protocol itself, not of the Philippine
biosafety regulatory system. ISAAA stresses that the CA is without jurisdiction to review the soundness and wisdom
of existing laws, policy and regulations. Indeed, the questions posed by the respondents are political questions,
which must be resolved by the executive and legislative departments in deference to separation of powers.

On the availability of administrative remedies, ISAAA asserts that respondents are mistaken in saying that these
are limited to appeals. The concerned public may invoke Section 8 (G) of DAO 08-2002 which grants them the right
to submit their written comments on the BPI regarding the field testing permits, or Section 8 (P) for the revocation
and cancellation of a field testing permit. Respondents' failure to resort to the internal mechanisms provided in DAO
08-2002 violates the rule on exhaustion of administrative remedies, which warrants the dismissal of respondents'
petition.

ISAAA points out that under Section 7 of DAO 08-2002, the BPI is the approving authority for field testing
permits, while under Title IV, Chapter 4, Section 19 of the Administrative Code of 1987, the DA through the BPI, is
responsible for the production of improved planting materials and protection of agricultural crops from pests and
diseases. In bypassing the administrative remedies available, respondents not only failed to exhaust a less costly
and speedier remedy, it also deprived the parties of an opportunity to be heard by the BPI which has primary
jurisdiction and knowledgeable on the issues they sought to raise.

Rejecting the scientific data presented by the respondents, petitioners found Annex "A" of the Consolidated
Comment as irrelevant because it was not formally offered in evidence and are hearsay. Majority of those records
contain incomplete information and none of them pertain to the Bt talong. Respondents likewise presented two
misleading scientific studies which have already been discredited: the 2013 study by B.P. Mezzomo, et al. and the
study by Prof. Seralini in 2012. Petitioner notes that both articles have been withdrawn from publication.
 ISAAA further describes Annex "A" as a mere compilation of records of flawed studies with only 126 usable
records out of the 338 records. In contrast, petitioner cites the work of Nicolia, A., A. Manzo, F. Veronesi, and D.
Rosellini, entitled "An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research." The authors
evaluated 1,783 scientific records of GE crop safety research papers, reviews, relevant opinions and scientific
reports from 2002-2012. Their findings concluded that "the scientific research conducted so far has not detected any
significant hazards directly connected with the use of GE crops." In the article "Impacts of GM crops on biodiversity,"
in which scientific findings concluded that "[o]verall, x x x currently commercialized GM crops have reduced the
impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, through enhanced adoption of conservation tillage practices, reduction of
insecticide use and use of more environmentally benign herbicides and increasing yields to alleviate pressure to
convert additional land into agricultural use."

Debunking the supposed inherent risks and potential dangers of GMOs, petitioner cites EUR 24473-A decade of
EU-funded GMO research (2001-2010), concluded from more than 130 research projects, covering a period of 25
years of research, and involving more than 500 independent research groups, that "biotechnology, and in particular
GMOs, are not per se more risky than e.g. conventional plant breeding technologies." Another article cited is
"Assessment of the health impact of GM plant diets in long-term and multigenerational animal feeding trials: A
literature review" which states that scientific findings show that GM crops do not suggest any health hazard, and are
nutritionally equivalent to their non-GM counterparts and can be safely used in food and feed.

Addressing the studies relied upon by respondents on the alleged adverse environmental effects of GM crops,
petitioner cites the article "Ecological Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops: Ten Years of Field Research and
Commercial Cultivation" which concluded that "[T]he data available so far provide no scientific evidence that the
cultivation of the presently commercialized GM crops has caused environmental harm." A related article, "A Meta-
Analysis of Effects of Bt Cotton and Maize on Non-target Invertebrates" states that scientific findings show that non-
target insects are more abundant in GM crop fields like Bt cotton and Bt maize fields than in non-GM crops that are
sprayed with insecticides.

The two tables/summaries of studies submitted by respondents are likewise rejected by ISAAA, which
presented the following comments and criticisms on each of the paper/article cited, thus:

With respect to the study made by L. Moreno-Fierros, et al., the same should be rejected
considering that this was not formally offered as evidence by respondents. Hence, the same may not
be considered by the Honorable Court. (Section 34, Rule 132 of the Rules of Court; Heirs of Pedro
Pasag v. Spouses Parocha, supra)

Further, the study is irrelevant and immaterial. The CrylAcc protein used in the study was from
engineered E. coli and may have been contaminated by endotoxin. The CrylAcc used in the study
was not from Bt talong. Hence, respondents' attempt to extrapolate the interpretation and conclusion of
this study to Bt talong is grossly erroneous and calculated to mislead and deceive the Honorable Court.

Moreover, in a review by Bruce D. Hammond and Michael S. Koch of the said study by L. Moreno-
Fierros, et al., which was published in an article entitled A Review of the Food Safety of Bt Crops, the
authors reported that Adel-Patient, et al. tried and failed to reproduce the results obtained by the study
made by L. Moreno-Fierros, et al. The reason is because of endotoxin contamination in the preparation
of the CrylAc protein. Further, when purified Cry protein was injected to mice through intra-gastric
administration, there was no impact on the immune response of the mice.

In addition, the biological relevance of the study made by L. Moreno-Fierros, et al. to assessing
potential health risks from human consumption of foods derived from Bt crops can be questioned
because the doses tested in mice is irrelevant to human dietary exposure, i.e., the doses given were
"far in excess of potential human intakes".

With respect to the interpretation made by Prof. Eric-Gilles Seralini, the same is not entitled to any
weight and consideration because his sworn statement was not admitted in evidence by the Court of
Appeals.

Further, Seralini's findings are seriously flawed. Food safety experts explained the differences
observed by Seralini's statistical analysis as examples of random biological variation that occurs when
many measurements are made on test animals, and which have no biological significance. Hence,
there are no food safety concerns. Further, petitioner ISAAA presented in evidence the findings of
regulatory bodies, particularly the EFSA and the FSANZ, to controvert Seralini's findings. The EFSA
and the FSANZ rejected Seralini's findings because the same were based on questionable statistical
procedure employed in maize in 2007.

In addition, it must be pointed out that the Indian regulatory authority, GEAC, has not revised its
earlier decision approving the safety of Bt eggplant notwithstanding the findings of Seralini's
 assessment. In effect, Seralini's findings and interpretation were rejected by the Indian regulatory
agency.

With respect to the interpretation made by Drs. Romeo Quijano and Wency Kiat, the same is not
entitled to any weight and consideration because the Court of Appeals did not admit their sworn
statement. Further, Drs. Romeo Quijano and Wency Kiat sought to interpret a seriously flawed study,
making their sworn statements equally flawed.

In an attempt to mislead the Honorable Court, respondents tried to pass off the review of Prof.
David A. Andow as the work of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. Such claim is grossly
misleading. In truth, as Prof. David A. Andow indicated in the preface, the report was produced upon
the request of Aruna Rodriguez, a known anti-GM campaigner.

Further, Prof. David A. Andow's review did not point to any negative impact to the environment of
Mahyco's Bt brinjal (Indian name for Bt talong) during the entire period of conduct of field trials all over
the country. He concluded, however, that the dossier is inadequate for ERA. This is perplexing
considering this is the same gene that has been used in Bt cotton since 1996. Scores of environmental
and food safety risk assessment studies have been conducted and there is wealth of information and
experience on its safety. Various meta-analyses indicate that delaying the use of this already
effective Bt brinjal for managing this devastating pest only ensures the continued use of frequent
insecticide sprays with proven harm to human and animal health and the environment and loss of
potential income of resource-poor small farmers.

Notwithstanding the conclusions of Prof. David A. Andow, to date, it is worth repeating that the
Indian regulatory body, GEAC, has not revised its earlier decision approving the safety of Bt eggplant
based on the recommendation of two expert committees which found the Mahyco regulatory dossier
compliant to the ERA stipulated by the Indian regulatory body. In effect, like Seralini, Andow's findings
and interpretation were also rejected by the Indian regulatory agency.35

Petitioner reiterates that the PEIS law does not apply to field testing of Bt talong and the rigid requirements
under Section 8 of DAO 08-2002 already takes into consideration any and all significant risks not only to the
environment but also to human health. The requirements under Sections 26 and 27 of the Local Government
Code are also inapplicable because the field testing is not among the six environmentally sensitive activities
mentioned therein; the public consultations and prior local government unit (LGU) approval, were nevertheless
complied with. Moreover, the field testing is an exercise of academic freedom protected by the Constitution, the
possibility of Bt talong's commercialization in the future is but incidental to, and fruit of the experiment.

As to the "commissioned studies" on Bt corn in the Philippines, petitioner asserts that these are inadmissible,
hearsay and unreliable. These were not formally offered in evidence; self-serving as it was conducted by
respondents Greenpeace and MASIPAG themselves; the persons who prepared the same were not presented in
court to identify and testify on its findings; and the methods used in the investigation and research were not
scientific. Said studies failed to establish any correlation between Bt corn and the purported environmental and
health problems.

G.R. No. 209276

EMB, BPI and FPA joined in objecting to Annex "A" of respondents' consolidated comment, for the same
reasons given by ISAAA. They noted that the affidavit of Prof. Seralini, and the joint affidavit of Dr. Kiat and Dr.
Quijano were denied admission by the CA. Given the failure of the respondents to present scientific evidence to
prove the claim of environmental and health damages, respondents are not entitled to the writ of kalikasan.

Public petitioners reiterate that in issuing the Biosafety Permits to UPLB, they made sure that the latter complied
with all the requirements under DAO 08-2002, including the conduct of risk assessment. The applications for field
testing of Bt talong thus underwent the following procedures:

Having completed the contained experiment on the Bt talong, UPLB filed with BPI several
applications for issuance of Biosafety Permits to conduct multi-locational field testing of Bt talong. Even
before the proponent submitted its application, petitioner BPI conducted a consultative meeting with the
proponent to enlighten the latter about the requirements set out by DA AO No. 8.

Thereafter, petitioner BPI evaluated UPLB's applications vis-a-vis the requirements of Section 8 of
DA AO No. 8 and found them to be sufficient in form and substance, to wit:

First. The applications were in the proper format and contained all of the relevant
information as required in Section 8 (A) (1) of DA AO No. 08.
 Second. The applications were accompanied by a (i) Certification from the NCBP that
the regulated article has undergone satisfactory testing under contained conditions in the
Philippines, (ii) technical dossier consisting of scientific literature and other scientific
materials relied upon by the applicant showing that Bt talong will not pose any significant
risks to human health and the environment, and (iii) copy of the proposed PIS for Field
Testing as prescribed by Section 8 (A) (2) of DA AO No. 08; and

Third. The applications contained the Endorsement of proposal for field testing, duly
approved by the majority of all the members of the respective Institutional Biosafety
Committees (IBC), including at least one community representative, as required by
Section 8 (E) of DA AO No. 08.

a. Under Sections 1 (L) and 8 (D) of DA AO No. 08, the IBC is responsible for the
initial evaluation of the risk assessment and risk management strategies of the applicant
for field testing using the NCBP guidelines. The IBC shall determine if the data
obtained under contained conditions provide sufficient basis to authorize the field
testing of the regulated article. In making the determination, the IBC shall ensure that
field testing does not pose any significant risks to human health and the
environment. The IBC may, in its discretion, require the proponent to perform additional
experiments under contained conditions before acting on the field testing proposal. The
IBC shall either endorse the field testing proposal to the BPI or reject it for failing the
scientific risk assessment.

b. Relatedly, UPLB had previously complied with Section 1 (L) of DA AO No. 08 which
requires an applicant for field testing to establish an IBC in preparation for the field testing
of a regulated article and whose membership has been approved by the BPI. Section 1 (L)
of DA AO No. 08, requires that the IBC shall be composed of at least five (5) members,
three (3) of whom shall be designated as "scientist-members" who shall possess scientific
and technological knowledge and expertise sufficient to enable them to evaluate and
monitor properly any work of the applicant relating to the field testing of a regulated article,
and the other members are designated as "community representatives" who are in a
position to represent the interest of the communities where the field testing is to be
conducted.

Before approving the intended multi-locations [field] trials, petitioner BPI, pursuant to Section 8 (F)
of DA AO No. 08, forwarded the complete documents to three (3) independent Scientific Technical
Review Panel (STRP) members. Pending receipt of the risk assessment reports of the three STRP
members, petitioner BPI conducted its own risk assessment.

Thereafter, on separate occasions, petitioner BPI received the final risk assessment reports of the
three STRP members recommending the grant of Biosafety Permits to UPLB after a thorough risk
assessment and evaluation of UPLB's application for field trial of Bt talong.

Meanwhile, petitioner BPI received from UPLB proofs of posting of the PISs for Field Testing in
each concerned barangays and city/municipal halls of the localities having jurisdiction over its proposed
field trial sites.

In addition to the posting of the PISs for Field Testing, petitioner BPI conducted consultative
meetings and public seminars in order to provide public information and in order to give an opportunity
to the public to raise their questions and/or concerns regarding the Bt talong field trials.36

Petitioners maintain that Sections 26 and 27 of the Local Government Code are inapplicable to
the Bt talong field testing considering that its subject matter is not mass production for human consumption. The
project entails only the planting of Bt eggplants and cultivation in a controlled environment; indeed, the conduct of a
field trial is not a guarantee that the Bt talong will be commercialized and allowed for cultivation in the Philippines.

On the non-exhaustion of administrative remedies by the respondents, petitioners note that during the period of
public consultation under DAO 08-2002, it is BPI which processes written comments on the application for field
testing of a regulated article, and has the authority to approve or disapprove the application. Also, under Section 8
(P), BPI may revoke a biosafety permit issued on the ground of, among others, receipt of new information that the
field testing poses significant risks to human health and the environment. Petitioners assert they were never remiss
in the performance of their mandated functions, as shown by their immediate action with respect to the defective
certification of posting of PIS in Kabacan, North Cotabato. Upon receiving the letter-complaint on January 24, 2012,
BPI readily ordered their re-posting. The same incident occurred in Davao City, where BPI refused to lift the
suspension of biosafety permits until "rectification of the conditions for public consultation is carried out."
 To underscore respondents' blatant disregard of the administrative process, petitioners refer to documented
instances when respondents took the law in their own hands. Greenpeace barged into one of the Bt talong field trial
sites at Bgy. Paciano Rizal, Bay, Laguna, forcibly entered the entrance gate through the use of a bolt cutter, and
then proceeded to uproot the experimental crops without permission from BPI or the project proponents. Petitioners
submit that the non-observance of the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies results in lack of cause of
action, one of the grounds under the Rules of Court justifying the dismissal of a complaint.

Petitions-in-Intervention

Crop Life Philippines, Inc. (Crop Life)

Crop Life is an association of companies which belongs to a global (Crop Life International) as well as regional
(Crop Life Asia) networks of member-companies representing the plant science industry. It aims to "help improve the
productivity of Filipino farmers and contribute to Philippine food security in a sustainable way." It supports
"innovation, research and development in agriculture through the use of biology, chemistry, biotechnology, plant
breeding, other techniques and disciplines."

On procedural grounds, Crop Life assails the CA in rendering judgment in violation of petitioners' right to due
process because it was prevented from cross-examining the respondents' expert witnesses and conducting re-direct
examination of petitioners' own witnesses, and being an evidently partial and prejudiced court. It said the petition for
writ of kalikasan should have been dismissed outright as it effectively asks the Court to engage in "judicial
legislation" to "cure" what respondents feel is an inadequate regulatory framework for field testing of GMOs in the
Philippines. Respondents also violated the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies, and their petition is
barred by estoppel and laches.

Crop Life concurs with the petitioners in arguing that respondents failed to specifically allege and prove the
particular environmental damage resulting from the Bt talong field testing. It cites the scientific evidence on record
and the internationally accepted scientific standards on GMOs and GMO field testing, and considering the
experience of various countries engaged in testing GMOs, telling us that GMO field testing will not damage the
environment nor harm human health and more likely bring about beneficial improvements.

Crop Life likewise assails the application of the Precautionary Principle by the CA which erroneously equated
field testing of Bt talong with Bt talong itself; failed to recognize that in this case, there was no particular
environmental damage identified, much less proven; relied upon the article of Prof. Seralini that was retracted by the
scientific journal which published it; there is no scientific uncertainty on the adverse effects of GMOs to environment
and human health; and did not consider respondents' failure to prove the insufficiency of the regulatory framework
under DAO 08-2002.

On policy grounds, Crop Life argues that requiring all organisms/plants to be considered absolutely safe before
any field testing may be allowed, would result in permanently placing the Philippines in the shadows of more
developed nations (whose economies rest on emerging markets importing products from them). It points out that the
testing of Bt talong specifically addresses defined problems such as the need to curb the misuse of chemical
pesticides.

Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines

(BCP)

BCP is a non-stock, non-profit membership association, a broad-based multi-sectoral coalition of advocates of

modern biotechnology in the Philippines.

Reversal of the CA ruling is sought on the following grounds:

I.

THE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN TAKING COGNIZANCE OF THE KALIKASAN PETITION IN

THE ABSENCE OF ANY JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY.

II.

EXISTING LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS ALREADY INCORPORATE THE

PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AS A GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN RELATION TO GMOs.

III.

THE CA DECISION AND THE CA RESOLUTION IMPROPERLY APPLIED THE PRECAUTIONARY

PRINCIPLE.

IV.
 THE COURT OF APPEALS ERRONEOUS APPLICATION OF THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE, IF
SUSTAINED, WOULD PRODUCE A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT THAT IS ANTI-PROGRESS, ANTI-
TECHNOLOGY AND, ULTIMATELY, DETRIMENTAL TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.37

BCP argued that in the guise of taking on a supposed justiciable controversy, despite the Bt talong field trials
having been terminated, the CA entertained a prohibited collateral attack on the sufficiency of DAO 08-2002.
Though not invalidating the issuance, which the CA knew was highly improper, it nonetheless granted the petition for
writ of kalikasan on the theory that "mere biosafety regulations" were insufficient to guarantee the safety of the
environment and the health of the people.

Also reiterated were those grounds for dismissal already raised by the petitioners: failure to exhaust
administrative remedies and finality of findings of administrative agencies.

BCP further asserts that the application of a stringent "risk assessment" process to regulated articles prior to
any release in the environment for field testing mandated by AO No. 8 sufficiently complies with the rationale behind
the development of the precautionary principle. By implementing the stringent provisions of DAO 08-2002, in
conjunction with the standards set by EO 514 and the NBF, the government preemptively intervenes and takes
precautionary measures prior to the release of any potentially harmful substance or article into the environment.
Thus, any potential damage to the environment is prevented or negated. Moreover, international instruments ratified
and formally adopted by the Philippines (CBD and the Cartagena Protocol) provide additional support in the proper
application of the precautionary principle in relation to GMOs and the environment.

On the "misapplication" by the CA of the precautionary principle, BCP explains that the basic premise for its
application is the existence of threat of harm or damage to the environment, which must be backed by a reasonable
scientific basis and not based on mere hypothetical allegation, before the burden of proof is shifted to the public
respondents in a petition for writ of kalikasan. Here, the CA relied heavily on its observation that "... field trials of bt
talong could not be declared ... as safe to human health and to ecology, with full scientific certainty, being an
alteration of an otherwise natural state of affairs in our ecology" and "introducing a genetically modified plant in our
intricate world of plants by humans certainly appears to be an ecologically imbalancing act," among others. BCP
finds that this pronouncement of the CA constitutes an indictment not only against Bt talong but against all GMOs as
well. The appellate court's opinion is thus highly speculative, sweeping and laced with obvious bias.

There being no credible showing in the record that the conduct of Bt talong field trials entails real threats and
that these threats pertain to serious and irreversible damage to the environment, BCP maintains that the
precautionary principle finds no application in this case. While Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure for Environmental
Cases states that "[w]hen there is a lack of full scientific certainty in establishing a causal link between human
activity and environmental effect, the court shall apply the precautionary principle in resolving the case before it," the
CA failed to note that the element of lack of full scientific certainty pertains merely to the causal link between human
activity and environmental effect, and not the existence or risk of environmental effect.

BCP laments that sustaining the CA's line of reasoning would produce a chilling effect against technological
advancements, especially those in agriculture. Affirming the CA decision thus sets a dangerous precedent where
any and all human activity may be enjoined based on unfounded fears of possible damage to health or the
environment.

Issues

From the foregoing submissions, the Court is presented with the following issues for resolution:

1. Legal standing of respondents;

2. Mootness;

3. Violation of the doctrines of primary jurisdiction and exhaustion of administrative remedies;

4. Application of the law on environmental impact statement/assessment on projects involving the

introduction and propagation of GMOs in the country;

5. Evidence of damage or threat of damage to human health and the environment in two or more
provinces, as a result of the Bt talong field trials;

6. Neglect or unlawful omission committed by the public respondents in connection with the processing
and evaluation of the applications for Bt talong field testing; and

7. Application of the Precautionary Principle.

The Court's Ruling

Legal Standing

Locus standi is "a right of appearance in a court of justice on a given question."38 It refers particularly to "a
party's personal and substantial interest in a case where he has sustained or will sustain direct injury as a result" of
the act being challenged, and "calls for more than just a generalized grievance."39

However, the rule on standing is a matter of procedure which can be relaxed for non-traditional plaintiffs like
ordinary citizens, taxpayers, and legislators when the public interest so requires, such as when the matter is of
transcendental importance, of overreaching significance to society, or of paramount public interest.40 The Court thus
had invariably adopted a liberal policy on standing to allow ordinary citizens and civic organizations to prosecute
actions before this Court questioning the constitutionality or validity of laws, acts, rulings or orders of various
government agencies or instrumentalities.41

Oposa v. Factor an, Jr.42 signaled an even more liberalized policy on locus standi in public suits. In said case,
we recognized the "public right" of citizens to "a balanced and healthful ecology which, for the first time in our
nation's constitutional history, is solemnly incorporated in the fundamental law." We held that such right need not be
written in the Constitution for it is assumed, like other civil and political rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, to exist
from the inception of mankind and it is an issue of transcendental importance with intergenerational implications.
Such right carries with it the correlative duty to refrain from impairing the environment.

Since the Oposa ruling, ordinary citizens not only have legal standing to sue for the enforcement of
environmental rights, they can do so in representation of their own and future generations. Thus:

Petitioners minors assert that they represent their generation as well as generations yet unborn. We
find no difficulty in ruling that they can, for themselves, for others of their generation and for the
succeeding generations, file a class suit. Their personality to sue in behalf of the succeeding
generations can only be based on the concept of intergenerational responsibility insofar as
the right to a balanced and healthful ecology is concerned. Such a right, as hereinafter
expounded, considers the "rhythm and harmony of nature." Nature means the created world in its
entirety. Such rhythm and harmony indispensably include, inter alia, the judicious disposition,
utilization, management, renewal and conservation of the country's forest, mineral, land, waters,
fisheries, wildlife, off-shore areas and other natural resources to the end that their exploration,
development and utilization be equitably accessible to the present as well as future generations.
Needless to say, every generation has a responsibility to the next to preserve that rhythm and
harmony for the full enjoyment of a balanced and healthful ecology. Put a little differently, the minors'
assertion of their right to a sound environment constitutes, at the same time, the performance of
their obligation to ensure the protection of that right for the generations to come.43 (Emphasis
supplied.)

The liberalized rule on standing is now enshrined in the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases which
allows the filing of a citizen suit in environmental cases.44 The provision on citizen suits in the Rules "collapses the
traditional rule on personal and direct interest, on the principle that humans are stewards of nature," and aims to
"further encourage the protection of the environment."45

There is therefore no dispute on the standing of respondents to file before this Court their petition for writ
of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus.

Mootness

It is argued that this case has been mooted by the termination of all field trials on August 10, 2012. In fact, the
validity of all Biosafety permits issued to UPLB expired in June 2012.

An action is considered 'moot' when it no longer presents a justiciable controversy because the issues involved
have become academic or dead, or when the matter in dispute has already been resolved and hence, one is not
entitled to judicial intervention unless the issue is likely to be raised again between the parties.46 Time and again,
courts have refrained from even expressing an opinion in a case where the issues have become moot and
academic, there being no more justiciable controversy to speak of, so that a determination thereof would be of no
practical use or value.47

Nonetheless, courts will decide cases, otherwise moot and academic if: first, there is a grave violation of the
Constitution; second, the exceptional character of the situation and the paramount public interest is involved; third,
when the constitutional issue raised requires formulation of controlling principles to guide the bench, the bar and the
public; and fourth, the case is capable of repetition yet evading review.48 We find that the presence of the second
and fourth exceptions justified the CA in not dismissing the case despite the termination of Bt talong field trials.

While it may be that the project proponents of Bt talong have terminated the subject field trials, it is not certain if
they have actually completed the field trial stage for the purpose of data gathering. At any rate, it is on record that
the proponents expect to proceed to the next phase of the project, the preparation for commercial propagation of
the Bt eggplants. Biosafety permits will still be issued by the BPI for Bt talong or other GM crops. Hence, not only
does this case fall under the "capable of repetition yet evading review" exception to the mootness principle, the
human and environmental health hazards posed by the introduction of a genetically modified plant, a very popular
staple vegetable among Filipinos, is an issue of paramount public interest.

Primary Jurisdiction and Exhaustion of

Administrative Remedies

In Republic v. Lacap,49 the Court explained the related doctrines of primary jurisdiction and exhaustion of
administrative remedies, as follows:

The general rule is that before a party may seek the intervention of the court, he should first avail of
all the means afforded him by administrative processes. The issues which administrative agencies are
authorized to decide should not be summarily taken from them and submitted to a court without first
giving such administrative agency the opportunity to dispose of the same after due deliberation.

Corollary to the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies is the doctrine of primary

jurisdiction; that is, courts cannot or will not determine a controversy involving a question which is
within the jurisdiction of the administrative tribunal prior to the resolution of that question by the
administrative tribunal, where the question demands the exercise of sound administrative discretion
requiring the special knowledge, experience and services of the administrative tribunal to determine
technical and intricate matters of fact.

Nonetheless, the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies and the corollary doctrine of
primary jurisdiction, which are based on sound public policy and practical considerations, are not
inflexible rules. There are many accepted exceptions, such as: (a) where there is estoppel on the
part of the party invoking the doctrine; (b) where the challenged administrative act is patently illegal,
amounting to lack of jurisdiction; (c) where there is unreasonable delay or official inaction that will
irretrievably prejudice the complainant; (d) where the amount involved is relatively small so as to make
the rule impractical and oppressive; (e) where the question involved is purely legal and will ultimately
have to be decided by the courts of justice; (f) where judicial intervention is urgent; (g) when its
application may cause great and irreparable damage; (h) where the controverted acts violate due
process; (i) when the issue of non-exhaustion of administrative remedies has been rendered moot;
(j) when there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy; (k) when strong public interest is
involved; and, (1) in quo warranto proceedings. x x x (Emphasis supplied)

Under DAO 08-2002, the public is invited to submit written comments for evaluation by BPI after public
information sheets have been posted (Section 7[G]). Section 7(P) also provides for revocation of field testing permit
on certain grounds, to wit:

P. Revocation of Permit to Field Test. - A Permit to Field Test may be revoked for any of the following
grounds:

1. Provision of false information in the Application to Field Test;

2. Violation of SPS or biosafety rules and regulations or of any conditions specified in the permit;

3. Failure to allow the inspection of the field testing site;

4. Receipt by BPI of new information that the field testing of the regulated article poses significant risks
to human health and the environment;

5. Whether the regulated article was imported, misdeclaration of shipment; or

6. Such other grounds as BPI may deem reasonable to prevent significant risks to human health and
the environment.

Respondents sought relief under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, claiming serious health and
environmental adverse effects of the Bt talong field trials due to "inherent risks" associated with genetically modified
crops and herbicides. They sought the immediate issuance of a TEPO to enjoin the processing for field testing and
registering Bt talong as herbicidal product in the Philippines, stopping all pending field trials of Bt talong anywhere in
the country, and ordering the uprooting of planted Bt talong in the field trial sites.

In addition to the TEPO and writ of kalikasan, respondents also sought the issuance of a writ of continuing
mandamus commanding the respondents to: (1) comply with the requirement of environmental impact statement; (2)
submit comprehensive risk assessments, field test reports, regulatory compliance reports and other material
documents on Bt talong including issued certifications on public consultation with LGUs; (3) work with other
agencies to submit a draft amendment to biosafety regulations; and (4) BPI, in coordination with relevant
government agencies, conduct balanced nationwide public information on the nature of Bt talong field trial, and a
survey of its social acceptability.

Clearly, the provisions of DAO 08-2002 do not provide a speedy, or adequate remedy for the respondents "to
determine the questions of unique national and local importance raised here that pertain to laws and rules for
environmental protection, thus [they were] justified in coming to this Court."50 We take judicial notice of the fact that
genetically modified food is an intensely debated global issue, and despite the entry of GMO crops (Bt corn) into the
Philippines in the last decade, it is only now that such controversy involving alleged damage or threat to human
health and the environment from GMOs has reached the courts.

Genetic Engineering

Genetic manipulation has long been practiced by conventional breeders of plant or animal to fulfill specific
purposes. The basic strategy employed is to use the sexual mechanism to reorganize the genomes of two
individuals in a new genetic matrix, and select for individuals in the progeny with the desirable combination of the
parental characteristics. Hybridization is the conventional way of creating variation. In animals, mating is effected by
introducing the desired sperm donor to the female at the right time. In plants, pollen grains from the desired source
are deposited on the stigma of a receptive female plant. Pollination or mating is followed by fertilization and
subsequently development into an embryo. The effect of this action is the reorganization of the genomes of two
parents into a new genetic matrix to create new individuals expressing traits from both parents. The ease of crossing
of mating varies from one species to another. However, conventional breeding technologies are limited by their long
duration, need for sexual compatibility, low selection efficiency, and restricted gene pool.51

Recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology, often referred to as genetic engineering, allows scientists to transfer
genes from one organism to any other, circumventing the sexual process. For example, a gene from a bacterium
can be transferred to corn. Consequently, DNA technology allowed scientists to treat all living things as belonging to
one giant breeding pool. Unlike other natural genome rearrangements phenomena, rDNA introduces alien DNA
sequences into the genome. Even though crossing of two sexually compatible individuals produces recombinant
progeny, the term recombinant DNA is restricted to the product of the union of DNA segments of different biological
origins. The product of recombinant DNA manipulation is called a transgenic organism. rDNA is the core technology
of biotechnology.52

The organism that is created through genetic engineering is called a genetically modified organism (GMO).
Since the production of the first GMOs in the 1970s, genes have been transferred between animal species, between
plant species, and from animal species to plant species. Some genes can make an animal or plant grow faster or
larger, or both. A gene produced by flounder (anti-freeze) was transplanted into salmon so that salmon can be
farmed in colder climates. Many species offish are genetically engineered to speed growth, to alter flesh quality, and
to increase cold and disease resistance. In farm animals such as cattle, genes can be inserted to reduce the amount
of fat in meat, to increase milk production, and to increase superior cheese-making proteins in milk. Biotechnology
has also modified plants to produce its own pesticide, resist common diseases or to tolerate weed-killing herbicide
sprays.53

Despite these promising innovations, there has been a great deal of controversy over bioengineered foods.
Some scientists believe genetic engineering dangerously tampers with the most fundamental natural components of
life; that genetic engineering is scientifically unsound; and that when scientists transfer genes into a new organism,
the results could be unexpected and dangerous. But no long-term studies have been done to determine what effects
GMO foods might have on human health.54

Genetically Modified Foods

The term GM food refers to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular
biology techniques. These plants are modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased
resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content.55 Genetic modification of plants occurs in several stages:

1. An organism that has the desired characteristic is identified and the specific gene producing this
characteristic is located and the DNA is cut off.

2. The gene is then attached to a carrier in order to introduce the gene into the cells of the plant to be
modified. Mostly plasmid (piece of bacterial DNA) acts as a carrier.

3. Along with the gene and carrier a 'promoter' is also added to ensure that the gene works adequately
when it is introduced into the plant.

4. The gene of interest together with carrier and promoter is then inserted into bacterium, and is
allowed to reproduce to create many copies of the gene which are then transferred into the plant
being modified.
 5. The plants are examined to ensure that they have the desired physical characteristic conferred by
the new gene.

6. The genetically modified plants are bred with conventional plants of the same variety to produce
seed for further testing and possibly for future commercial use. The entire process from the initial
gene selection to commercial production can take up to ten years or more.56

Benefits of GM Foods

The application of biotechnology in agricultural production promises to overcome the major constraints being
faced in farming such as insect pest infestation and diseases which lead to substantial yield losses. Pest-resistant
crops could substantially improve yields in developing countries where pest damage is rampant and reduce the use
of chemical pesticides. Crop plants which have been genetically engineered to withstand the application of powerful
herbicides57 using genes from soil bacteria eliminates the time-consuming and not cost-effective physical removal of
weeds by tilling. The herbicides to which the GM crops are tolerant are "broad spectrum" weed­killers, which means
they can be sprayed over the entire field, killing all plants apart from the GM crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops include
transgenes providing tolerance to the herbicides (glyphosate or glufosinate ammonium). These herbicides kill nearly
all kinds of plants except those that have the tolerance gene. Another important benefit is that this class of
herbicides breaks down quickly in the soil, eliminating residue carryover problems and reducing adverse
environmental impacts.58

Some plants are genetically engineered to withstand cold climates such as GM strawberries or soybeans,
expressing the anti-freeze gene of arctic flounder, to protect themselves against the damaging effects of the frost;
and GM tobacco and potato with anti-freeze gene from cold water fish. Crops could also be genetically modified to
produce micronutrients vital to the human diet such as the "golden rice" genetically modified to produce beta-
carotene, which can solve Vitamin A deficiency and prevent night blindness in pre-school children. Other efforts to
enhance nutritional content of plants include the genetic modification of canola to enhance Vitamin E content or
better balance fatty acids, cereals for specific starch or protein, rice for increased iron to reduce anemia, and plant
oils to adjust cholesterol levels. There are also food crops engineered to produce edible vaccines against infectious
diseases that would make vaccination more readily available to children around the world. For example, transgenic
bananas containing inactivated viruses protecting against common developing world diseases such as cholera,
hepatitis B and diarrhea, have been produced. These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer
than traditional injectable vaccines.59

Overall, biotechnology is perceived as having the potential to either help or hinder reconciling of the often
opposing goals of meeting the human demand for food, nutrition, fiber, timber, and other natural resources. Biotech
crops could put more food on the table per unit of land and water used in agriculture, thus resulting in decreased
land and water diverted to human uses. Increasing crop yields and reducing the amount of cultivated land necessary
would also reduce the area subject to soil erosion from agricultural practices, which in turn would limit associated
environmental effects on water bodies and aquatic species and would reduce loss of carbon sinks and stores into
the atmosphere.60

Adverse Health Effects of GMOs

Along with the much heralded benefits of GM crops to human health and environment, there emerged
controversial issues concerning GM foods.

In 1999, it was found that genetically engineered foods can have negative health effects. Based on scientific
studies, these foods can unleash new pathogens, contain allergens and toxins, and increase the risk of cancer,
herbicide exposure, and harm to fetuses and infants.61 Independent studies conducted went as far to conclude that
GM food and feed are "inherently hazardous to health."62

A widely reported case is that of the Brazil nut gene expressed in soybean in order to increase the methionine
content for animal feed. The protein was subsequently shown to be an allergen and the product was never
marketed. Genetically modified foods can introduce novel proteins into the food supply from organisms that are
never consumed as foods, which may pose a health risk. This may elicit potentially harmful immunological
responses, including allergic hypersensitivity.63

A feeding experiment conducted by Dr. Arpad Pusztai also demonstrated that potatoes genetically altered to
produce lectins, natural insecticides, to protect them against aphids, damaged the animals' gut, other organs, and
immune system. Dr. Pusztai found that "the damage originated not from the transgene and its expressed product
but from the damage caused by the insertion of the transgene, probably due to insertional mutagenesis."64 If
confirmed, Pusztai's conclusions will reinforce concerns that gene insertion itself may create new toxins; it will also
implicate the toxin commonly used in other genetically engineered crops - the Bt toxin which, Pusztai says, is also a
lectin.65
 The use of antibiotic resistance marker (arm) gene, inserted into a plant or microbe, that helps determine if the
foreign gene has successfully spliced into the host organism, is another cause of grave concern among scientists.
These arm genes might unexpectedly recombine with disease-causing bacteria or microbes in the environment or in
the guts of animals or humans who eat GM food, thus contributing to the growing public health danger of antibiotic-
resistance of infections that cannot be cured with traditional antibiotics (e.g., new strains of salmonella, e-coli,
campylobacter and enterococci).66 However, recent advances in genetic engineering indicate that use of such
selection markers is likely to diminish with the anticipated development of alternative types of marker genes.67

Increased cancer risk is another critical issue in the consumption of GM foods. A growth hormone genetically
modified to stimulate milk production in cows was found to elevate levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like Growth Factor-1,
identical versions of which occurs in cows and humans) in cow's milk by 80%. IGF-1 is reported to be a key factor in
prostate cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer.68 Dr. Samuel Epstein of the University of Illinois warned of the
danger of high levels of IGF-1 contained in milk cows injected with synthetic bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which
could be a potential risk factor for breast and gastrointestinal cancers.69

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup® herbicide, has been found to worsen modern
diseases. A report published in the journal Entropy argues that glyphosate residues, found in most commonly
consumed foods in the Western diet courtesy of genetically engineered sugar, corn, soy and wheat, "enhance the
damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the environment to disrupt normal body
functions and induce disease." Another research demonstrated a connection between increased use of Roundup
with rising autism rates in the US.70

Adverse Effects of GMOs to the Environment

Genetically modified crops affect the environment in many ways such as contaminating non-GMO plants,
creating super weeds and super pests, harming non-target species, changing soil microbial and biochemical
properties, and threatening biodiversity.

There are two primary types of technology so far deployed: insect resistance (Bt) and herbicide tolerance (HT).
Both have drastic modes of action to kill the target species at high efficiency. Bt crops contain a toxin lethal to
certain insects, and Bt sprays have been used by organic farmers as a last option to deal with certain pests like the
corn borer. It is feared that genetically modified Bt crops will speed up resistance to Bt, thereby rendering the
organic spray ineffective.71 Lab and field tests also indicate that common plant pests such as cotton bollworms,
living under constant pressure from GE crops, will soon evolve into "superpests" completely immune to Bt sprays
and other environmentally sustainable biopesticides.72 In the case of HT, the technology involves the combined use
of a chemical herbicide and a GM plant. The herbicide is generally a broad spectrum herbicide (commonly
glyphosate or glufosinate) which kills weeds while leaving the crop plant alive as it is genetically engineered to be
resistant to the herbicide. The herbicide acts to inhibit an essential enzyme that is found in all plants and as a result
is able to eliminate all weeds whereas most conventional herbicides are selective in their action and target a limited
number of weeds. Concern has been raised regarding over-reliance on use of one or two herbicides in increased
amounts over time which leads to the emergence of herbicide resistant weeds. Also, the transfer of an herbicide-
resistance gene into a weed can convert it into a superweed. Pests and weeds will emerge that are pesticide or
herbicide resistant, which means that stronger, more toxic chemicals will be needed to get rid of the pests.73

It is a well-accepted fact that genetically engineered plants can move beyond the field sites and cross with wild
relatives.74 It is by nature a design of plants to cross pollinate to spread genes further afield. Maize, oil seed rape,
sugar beet, barley, among others, are wind and insect pollinated, allowing pollen to travel large distances. In GM
crop fields, pollen drift and insect pollination create obvious problems for nearby non-GM or organic crops.75 GM
maize could cross-pollinate neighboring non-GM or organic maize crops. Maize pollen can travel at least 500-700
meters and still be viable and distances of several kilometers have even been reported.76 But many experiments
showed varying results and actual cross-pollinations were observed in Mexico up to 200 meters only, while in
Oklahoma it was 500 meters. In crop species that are outcrossers, many environmental factors influence the
maximum pollination distance such as the size of pollen grains, the humidity in the air, and the wind
speed.77 Brinjal is usually self-pollinated, but the extent of cross-pollination has been reported as high as 48% and
hence it is classified as cross-pollinated crop. The cone-like formation of anthers favors self-pollination; but since the
stigma ultimately projects beyond the anthers, there is an ample opportunity for cross-pollination. The rates of
natural cross-pollination may vary depending on genotype, location, and insect activity. The extent of outcrossing
has been reported from 3 to 7% in China and from 0 to 8.2% (with a mean of 2.7%) at Asian Vegetable Research
Development Centre; however the Indian researchers have reported 2 to 48% outcrossing in brinjal varieties in
India. Outcrossing primarily takes place with the help of insects.78

The StarLink incident is also a widely reported GM fiasco. In June 2000, Starlink, a genetically modified yellow
corn which contains the pesticide Bt in every cell, was found in white corn tortilla chips in Florida, USA. Starlink had
been approved for animal feed but not for human consumption due to concerns about dangerous allergic reactions.
The Starlink incident is often cited to illustrate how difficult it is to keep genetically modified crops from spreading.79
 This gene flow to wild species is particularly alarming to environmentalists. The wild species from which our
agricultural plants originate are an important genetic resource for further plant breeding if, for example, there is a
requirement for improved resistance to climate change or plant pests. Future plant breeding could be jeopardized if
transgenes spread into these resources. Similarly, agriculture in the centers of origin could be permanently
damaged if transgenes spread into regional landraces.80 Invasive species can replace a single species or a whole
range of species, and they can also change the conditions within ecological systems. Crossing can cause losses in
the genetic information of the original species, a reduction in genetic diversity and an ongoing incremental change of
genetic identity in the original plants. It is hard to predict which species will become invasive.81 Indeed, GM crops
could threaten the centers of crop biodiversity or outgrow a local flora to the detriment of native species.82

Bt gene in genetically modified crops might be toxic to non-target organisms that consume it. When Bt corn
sheds its pollen, these are cast into the wind, dusting nearby plants and trees. Concern has been expressed about
the potential toxicity of the Bt toxin in corn pollen to the monarch butterfly because initial laboratory studies showed
increased mortality in larvae. However, in another study it was believed that it is unlikely that a significant risk to
those butterflies exists.83

On the effect of transgene crops on soil, one study investigated CrylAcc and CpTI proteins and their effects on
microbial properties and enzyme activities. Results showed that there was persistence of said proteins in soil under
4-year consecutive cultivation of transgenic cottons. Soil microbial biomass carbon, microbial activities, and soil
enzyme activities (except urease and phosphodiesterase) significantly decreased in soil under transgenic cottons.84

In another review, it was stated that the direct effects of the plant that has been modified is of the most concern
since the introduction of transgenic proteins for pest and disease resistance can involve the production of chemical
substances that are potentially toxic to non-target soil organisms, including mycorrhizal fungi and soil microfauna
that are involved in organic matter decomposition. Experimental studies have shown that the transgenic
proteins Bt crystal toxin and T4 lysozyme, though used to prevent insect damage to the above ground plant parts,
are not only present in root exudates but that they maintain biological activity after entering the soil.85

As to the herbicide glyphosate, recent studies revealed its negative effects on the soil, which include compaction
and resultant runoff, the killing of beneficial microbes and bacteria, and the exhaustion of necessary minerals and
nutrients that plants require. It was found that glyphosate "locks up" manganese and other minerals in the soil so
that they can't be utilized by the plants that need them, and that it is toxic to rhizobia, the bacterium that fixes
nitrogen in the soil. There is likewise evidence showing that glyphosates can make their way to groundwater
supplies.86 In a study which tested the effects of the herbicide Roundup on six species of larval amphibians from
North America, it was demonstrated that when we "use realistic exposure times and the frequently occurring stress
of predators found in natural ecologic communities, one of our most widely applied herbicides (Roundup) has the
potential to kill many species of amphibians." At the same time, the study noted that Monsanto Corporation has
recently released "an additional formulation of glyphosate (Roundup Biactive), which contains a different (but
unspecified) surfactant that is reported to be less toxic."87

Evidence of Damage or Threat of Damage to Human Health and the Environment

Both petitioners and respondents submitted documentary evidence consisting of reports of scientific studies and
articles in support of their respective positions on the benefits and risks of GM plants.

Further, the parties presented their respective expert witnesses who testified on the allegations raised in the
petition concerning damage or threat of damage to human health and the environment resulting from the conduct
of Bt talong field trials in the Philippines. The CA conducted "hot tubbing," the colloquial term for concurrent expert
evidence, a method used for giving evidence in civil cases in Australia. In a "hot tub" hearing, the judge can hear all
the experts discussing the same issue at the same time to explain each of their points in a discussion with a
professional colleague. The objective is to achieve greater efficiency and expedition, by reduced emphasis on cross-
examination and increased emphasis on professional dialogue, and swifter identification of the critical areas of
disagreement between the experts.88

On November 20, 2012, the parties' expert witnesses testified in a hot tub hearing before the chairman and
members of the CA's Special Thirteenth Division. Dr. Chakraborty, Dr. Medina and Dr. Malayang were presented by
the petitioners while Dr. Davies, Dr. Halos, Dr. Ebora and Dr. Cariño appeared for the respondents.

The following are summaries of the expert witnesses' judicial affidavits:

For Petitioners

DR. DAVIES, Professor of Plant Physiology at Cornell University, Jefferson Science Fellow serving as
senior science advisor on agricultural biotechnology in the US Department of State, and editor for plant
physiology for McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology.
In his review of agricultural biotechnology around the world, he has not encountered any verifiable
report of a field trial of any GM crop that caused damage to the environment and to human health. This
involves more than 25,000 field trials in 20 years with crops such as Bt eggplant, Bt cotton, Bt corn, and
others. The same applies to the commercial cultivation of Bt crops, which have been grown in ever
increasing quantities worldwide for 16 years and now comprise the majority of the world acreage of
maize and cotton.

A recent European Union (EU) report which concludes that more than 130 EU research projects
covering a period of more than 25 years of research involving more than 500 independent research
groups, show that consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than
consuming the same foods containing ingredients from conventional crops. The World Health
Organization (WHO), American Medical Association, US National Academy of Sciences, European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) all have come to the same conclusion.

GMOs have been proven safe as conventionally-bred crops in animal studies. A small number of poorly
done studies purportedly claiming negative effects, should be viewed with great caution and have been
highly criticized for their veracity by the overwhelming majority of highly respected scientists. Many
hundreds of studies show no harmful effects. To date, not a single rigorous study of GM foods in
animals has revealed any adverse effect; not a single case of allergy, illness, cancer, or death have
been shown to be associated with foods derived from GM crops, despite the fact that they have been
consumed by Americans for 16 years.

Recent studies indicate that Bt crops enhance the ecological diversity in the areas surrounding those
where Bt crops are grown. Over a period of 13 years, cultivation of Bt cotton in China results in an
increase in insect diversity and abundance and a decrease in crop damaging insects not only in Bt crop
fields but also in surrounding non-Bt fields.

GM crops deliver significant yield increases, result in less exposure to pesticides, improve food security
worldwide, protect against devastating crop losses and famine, improve nutrition, and some GM crop
techniques help combat climate change.89

DR. HALOS, Ph.D. in Genetics, University of California Berkeley, B.S. Agriculture, Major in Agronomy
(Plant Breeding), UPLB, and served as Instructor, Associate Professor, Chief Science Research
Specialist, Research Director at UPLB, UP Diliman, De La Salle University, Forest Research Institute
now Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of DENR and the Biotechnology Coalition of the
Philippines.

From her research, she gathered that the protein product of the Bt gene CrylAcc in Bt cotton that is
also in Bt eggplant has been found safe by many food and environmental safety regulatory agencies
such as those in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Argentina, South
Africa, Japan and EU.

Since 2002, BPI has granted 95 biosafety permits for field trials. Of these 70 field trial permits were
for Bt corn, cotton and eggplant. No adverse effect of any of these Bt crop field trials have been
reported. No report of adverse effects of Bt crop field trial exists. All claims of adverse health and
environmental effects of Bt crops has not been scientifically validated. The yearly expansion of GM
crop areas in both the developing and industrialized countries is an attestation of the preference of
farmers and the economic benefits that accrue to them.

GM crops have positive environmental impact. Currently commercialized GM crops have reduced the
adverse impacts of agriculture on biodiversity. The use of Bt crops has significantly reduced the use of
pesticides, and also increased farmer incomes.90

DR. EBORA, Ph.D. in Entomology, Michigan State University; B.S. Agriculture and M.S. Entomology
(Insect Pathology/Microbial Control), UPLB; Post-graduate trainings in microbiology and biotechnology,
Osaka University, Japan, and Intellectual Property Management and Technology Transfer, ISAAA
AmeriCenter, Cornell University, USA. Director, and Research Associate Professor, National Institute of
Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH), UPLB; Philippine Coordinator of the Program for
Biosafety Systems; former Executive Director, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging
Technology Research and Development, DOST; former Chair, Biosafety Committee, DOST; and was a
Member of the Institutional Biosafety Committees of UPLB and International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI); and was extensively involved in the isolation, bioassay or efficacy testing and development
of Bt as microbial insecticides for the control of Asian corn borer and mosquito larvae at BIOTECH.

The contained field trial experiments, among others, were designed to address concerns on cross-
pollination or horizontal gene transfer, pollination distances, harm to beneficial organisms, and
development of insect resistance. To prevent cross-pollination, an isolation distance of 200 meters from
other areas where eggplants are grown or wild relatives are present, was observed, and with five (5)
rows of non-transgenic eggplants that serve as pollen trap plants. As to the flight distance of
honeybees reaching 4 kilometers, what was not mentioned is the viability of pollen after it was shed
and travelled at a certain distance. Numerous literatures have shown that isolation distances much less
than 200 meters is sufficient to prevent cross-pollination. Two studies are cited: Sekara and Bieniasz
(2008) noted that cross-pollination at a distance of 50 meters was non­existent; and the Asian Vegetable
Research and Development Center (AVRDC) indicated that eggplants produce perfect flowers which
may be cross-pollinated but self-pollination is more common, the extent of natural crossing depends
upon insect activity and this can be avoided by isolating each variety by 20 meters or with another tall
flowering plant. The isolation distance imposed by DA-BPI is 1 Ox the recommended isolation distance;
the 200 meters distance was found sufficient for pure seed production in India (the same
recommendation by Chen [2001] of AVRDC foundation for seed production purity standards); field
studies in 2 locations in India have shown that at a distance beyond 30 meters no more outcrossing
could be detected. Taking all these data into account, the 48% outcrossing being raised by petitioners
is most likely for adjacent plants and therefore not a valid argument for the on-going field trials.

The Bt talong will not directly affect beneficial organisms like pollinators, predators and parasites of
insect pests because it is toxic only to caterpillars or insects belonging to Order Lepidoptera (butterfly
and moths). The selective toxicity of Bt protein in Bt talong is partly due to the fact that the gut
physiology of these insects is very different from caterpillars, and not all caterpillars are affected by it.
There is a significant number of literature on Bt protein's selectivity and specificity.

As to the development of insect resistance, this is not possible during the multi-location field trials
for Bt talong because of low selection pressure and limited exposure of the insect pest to Bt talong.
Insect resistance is not unique to GM crops as it is a commonly observed biological reaction of insect
pests to control measures like insecticides. In the event Bt talong is approved for commercialization
and will be widely used by fanners, this concern could be addressed by insect resistance management
(IRM); an IRM strategy should be required prior to the commercial release of Bt talong.

There is no compelling reason to stop the field trials; on the contrary they should be allowed to proceed
so that scientists and researchers will be able to generate valuable data and information which will be
helpful in making informed decisions regarding the usefulness of the technology.91

For Respondents

DR. MALAYANG III, Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science, University of California at Berkeley; M.A.
Philosophy, M.A. International Affairs (Southeast Asia Studies major in Economics), Ohio University; AB
Philosophy, UP Diliman; former Undersecretary of Environment and Natural Resources; served as
Environmental Science representative in the National Biosafety Committee of the Philippines and
participated in the drafting of the Philippines Biosafety Framework; and student, lecturer and advocate
of biodiversity, food security, biosafety and environmental policy.

He is concerned with how GMOs are being introduced for commercial-scale use (as against being used
for academic research) in the Philippines on the following grounds: (a) how they might contaminate the
indigenous genetic resources of the country; (b) how they may cause an imbalance of predator-prey
relationships in ecosystems, so that certain species might dominate ecological niches and erode their
biodiversity and ecological stability; (c) how they may erode the ability of farmers to control their genetic
resources to sustain their cropping systems; and (d) how much are present biosafety protocols able to
safeguard the long-term ecological and economic interests of the Philippines as a particularly
biodiversity-rich country and which is, therefore, highly sensitive to genetic pollution; to the extent that
its biodiversity is its long-term equity to advances in biotechnology, the most robust measures must be
taken so that such resources will not be lost.

Being a highly biodiversity-rich country, biosafety measures in the Philippines must be adopted using a
3-stage approach: Stage 1 - Develop criteria for biosafety measures; meaning, first, adopt a set of
standards for determining the level of robustness of biosafety measures and protocols that would be
acceptable in the particular case of the Philippines; include required scoping and internal and external
validity requirements of impact and safety assessments; Stage 2 - Using the criteria produced in Stage
1, develop biosafety measures and protocols to be adopted in the Philippines; and Stage 3 - Apply the
protocol with the highest rigor.

Biosafety must be a public affair involving a broad spectrum of the Filipino state rather than its
considerations being restricted only to specific professionals and sectors in the country; biosafety must
be based on an enactment of Congress and open to challenge and adjudication against international
laws; provisions must be made to make it a crime against humanity to recklessly erode and weaken
genetic resources of our people.92
DR. MEDINA, Ph.D. in Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Canada; M.S. (Insect and Plant
Ecology) and B.S. Agriculture, UPLB; National Coordinator of MASIPAG; served as resource person in
more than a hundred trainings and seminars, both local and abroad; served as member in international
agricultural assessment sponsored by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP), WHO, and the World Bank; worked on a project for development of
resistance to corn borer in 1981 at the Institute of Plant Breeding in UPLB, and served as researcher
and later Associate Professor of Environmental Management of the UP Open University.

Based on her studies and extensive experience, the Bt talong field testing poses the following risks or
hazards: (a) While natural Bt sprays used in organic farming have little effect on non-target organisms
because the bacterial 'pro-toxin' is in an inactive state and only becomes toxic when processed and
reduced in the gut of certain (targeted) species of insect larvae, in contrast, Bt plants contain an
artificial, truncated Bt gene and less processing is required to generate the toxin because the toxin is
already in its active form. It is therefore less selective, and may harm non-target insects that do not
have the enzymes to process the pro-toxin, as well as the pests for which it is intended; (b) Bt proteins
from natural Bt sprays degrade relatively quickly in the field as a result of ultraviolet light and lose most
toxic activity within several days to two weeks after application. In Bt crops, however, the Bt toxin is
produced by the internal system of the plants thus non-degradable by mere exposure to sunlight and
generated throughout the entire lifespan of the plant; (c) Bt talong can also affect the environment by
harming important or beneficial insects directly or indirectly. Genetically engineered Bt eggplant, like
other Bt crops, could be harmful to non-target organisms if they consume the toxin directly in pollen or
plant debris. This could cause harm to ecosystems by reducing the numbers of important species, or
reducing the numbers of beneficial organisms that would naturally help control the pest species; (c)
The evolution of resistance to Bt crops is a real risk and is treated as such in ecological science
throughout the world. If enough individuals become resistant then the pest control fails; the pest
becomes abundant and affects crop yield. Granting the pest control practice is successful, it may also
simply swap one pest for another, a phenomenon known as secondary pest outbreak. Several studies
have shown that other pest insects are filling the void left by the absence of the one (or very few) insect
pests that Bt crops target, and this is now the problem with Bt maize.

Eggplant is 48% insect pollinated thereby any field release or field testing of genetically
modified Bt talong will eventually lead to contamination of non-genetically modified eggplant varieties.
Insects, particularly honeybees, can fly as far as 4 kilometers and therefore the 200 meters perimeter
pollen trap area in the confined field testing set by BPI is not sufficient. And once contamination occurs,
genetic cleanup of eggplant or any other plant is impossible. Moreover, intra-specific gene flow
from Bt talong to other varieties and populations of eggplants should be examined, as cultivated
eggplant (Solanum melongena) can cross breed with feral populations of S. melongena, and it is
possible that cultivated varieties can revert to wild phenotypes. Additionally, there is likely to be natural
crossing between Bt talong and wild relatives. Hybridization with perhaps as many as 29 wild relative
species needs to be evaluated carefully and the consequences of any hybridization that occurs needs
to be evaluated.

In 2010, the Minister of Environment and Forests of the Government of India, in his decision for
moratorium of Bt Brinjal, listed potential contamination of eggplant varieties as one of the reasons why
the release of Bt Brinjal was not allowed. Dr. Andow of the University of Minnesota also published an
84-pages report on the Environmental Risk Assessment of Bt Brinjal, and among his conclusions is that
several environmental risks were not considered and nearly all the risk assessment done were
inadequate. He concluded that until the risks were understood or managed, there seems to be little
reason to approve Bt Brinjal release.93

DR. CHAKRABORTY, Ph.D., M.S. Biochemistry, B.S. (Honors in Chemistry), Calcutta University;
Molecular Biologist, presently Principal Scientist and Head of the Gene Regulation Laboratory in the
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB);
Member, Governing Body and Executive Committee of the state council of Biotechnology, Government
of West Bengal and Chairman of the Biotechnology group of the state council of Science and
Technology, Government of West Bengal; Visiting Professor of the National Institute of Science,
Technology and Development (CSIR-NISTAD); citizen of India and resident of Kolkata, India.

GMO is a classic example of "paradoxes of consequences", where human actions have unintended
consequences, which are in direct opposition to what was intended. The difference in controlled
laboratory condition and standards, and real life open field level micro and macro-environment pushes
the advantage towards the target and non-target living system, with time. The pest resistance
to Bt toxin and development of herbicide tolerance (HT) in weeds is just a matter of time. The decade
long experience in Bt and Ht genes amply proves this point. If we ignore this now - we are
manufacturing a global environmental disaster - which will be a crime against humanity. There is no
way to recall these GMO from the environment.
 Even the short term benefits of GM agriculture are not scale neutral, or location-independent. It will
help the monopoly agribusiness and the expenses of monopolistic competition or cooperative organic
farming. Hot climate and rich biodiversity is detrimental towards the effectiveness of Bt constructs, and
helpful towards unintended gene flow. Moreover, the genetic manipulation is no way fail safe or exact.
Shotgun techniques are being adapted, aided by focused laboratory based screen of traits - rather than
the host or the full natural product. The GM labeling is avoided to cover up this major fault.

The tendency to avoid the available risk assessment, and test is very clear in the GM agribusiness.
Before going ahead with spread of this technology, even in a batter form, the foremost task is to
establish rigorous test and assessment procedures. There are excellent available tools of preteomics,
transcriptomics, and metabolomics for detailed compositional analysis in our hand to do this. Please
ask, why they are not being employed? In fact, there is not a single centre to test GM products on
behalf of the corporate GM Agribusiness house. Thus, low level, long term toxicity of GM foods are yet
to be tested. I believe the time has come to establish a standardization facility to carry out such test
facility in any country before giving permission to GM trial or cultivation.94

The relevant portions of the "hot-tub" hearing held on November 20, 2012, are herein reproduced:

Dr. Cariño:

x x x This is to clarify something with the Bt talong and the Bt talong has its substance.
It is not supposed to be consumed at the moment still under field trial, so it is not
supposed to be eaten at the moment. It has not been released for food nor for feed
and so in the context of a confined field test, it has supposed to have it out in the field
in a very controlled manner and any produce that comes out from that area is
supposed to be destroyed or kept from further safety and analysis only.

Chairperson:

So, actually, there is no full scientific certainty that it does not cause any harm
pertaining to health?

Dr. Cariño:

Bt talong per se, has hot been fully evaluated yet that is why it is undergoing trials. If
reporting of the Bt toxin in Bt talong is CrylAcc, there are numerous studies that had
been actually published on relative safety of CrylAcc protein and it is actually
considered as an additional protein and the various reviews can be seen in the OECD
Digest of risk assessments on CrylAcc protein. Alternatively, if you are looking at the
possibility of harm coming from the introduced protein as yet, we have not done a full
blown assessment of it as of the moment. But we look at the protein sequence and
with a comparison of its sequence with other sequences in the data basis to see if it is
similar to this amino acid sequence of other known toxins and, so far, I have actually ...
in my affidavit, I have actually seen personally that it is not closely related to any of the
known toxins that are found into its system.

Chairperson:

So, in effect, we can not really say that Bt talong is perfectly safe for human
consumption?

Dr. Cariño:

Right now it is not meant to be consumed by human at this point. Let me just clarify
one point. When any GM material is supposed to be introduced for food and for feed
and before it is actually utilized for life skill production, it goes through several steps.
The first step is actually the "lab", laboratory work and it is actually tested in this clean-
houses, rolled-out confined limited field test and then it goes to butyl abyss of field
tests where it is like generating more and more informations. We are still early on in
this pathway, so we are only in the confined field test and, at the moment, the thing is
that it is still being tested. The focus is on its efficacy after doing a preliminary
assessment of the possible pathological and ecological effect, and that is the pathway
that has been recommended by so many academics as well as scientific institutions as
well. And, that has been a tract followed by almost all the genetically modified crops
that is being introduced in the market today, but at the moment BT Talong is not yet a
commodity. It is not yet being evaluated as a commodity.
Chairperson:

So, no one in this country has yet eaten this Bt talong?

Dr. Cariño:

No, it has not been eaten, as far as I know. Even in India it has not been consumed by
human beings because it has not been introduced as a commodity.

Chairperson:

But what is the ultimate purpose of growing Bt talong? It is not for human consumption,
of course?

Dr. Cariño:

If it passes the safety assessments. That there is always a peak condition that, if it
would not to be evaluated in a step of the way much like to evaluate any new product
that is coming into the market evaluation, goes on a step-by-step and at least day-to-
day basis.

Dr. Davies:

Your Honor, may I interject, may I suggest with your permission? I would just like to make a little bit
of explanation.

Chairperson:

Proceed.

Dr. Davies:

I would like to address "Bt" as a compound which is distinct from a plain in "Talong". First of all, I
think of the name Bt toxin is very fortunate. It is really a protein. A protein is an essential constituent of
life. It is an essential constituent of our food. In the human body, and in the body of other animals, this
protein is under the same as any other protein in food. It has no effect on the human body. This has
been shown for many, many years, knowing BT Talong but BT has been a constituent of "maize" in
commercial production for 16 years.

xxxx

Dr. Davies:

x x x So it has been in corn for 16 years after substantial trials. It has been consumed
by Americans in corn products and by any other people who in[g]est American maize
corn products x x x. There is not a single case of illness or toxicity or allergenicity that
can be or that has been associated with this protein and, therefore, any food containing
this protein has been declared by authorities in all the countries that was mentioned by
my colleagues, including the European Union and the United States x x x to be as safe
as any food derived from the same plant species not containing this gene. I hope that
explains a little bit about what it is.

Chairperson:

Are you aware of a study, Dr. Davies, released on September 20 of this year, saying
that Monsanto's genetically modified corn is linked to cancer?

Dr. Davies:

Yes. Are you referring, your Honor, to a publication by a French Scientist named Gilles-
Eric Seralini? I think this is one of the publications by Seralini's group. Dr. Seralini's
work has been refuted by International committees of scientists...

xxxx

Dr. Chakraborty:

Your Honor, may I butt in? It is wrong that proteins can not be toxins. Think about the
snake venoms. They are poisons, so whether it is protein or not that is not the
 question. So proteins obviously venoms and proteins and enzymes and they are
poisons so protein can be a poison so that is now the point at all to be considered. The
second thing is, yeah, low level toxins long term in[g]estion of this BT toxin in human or
in any other animal have not been tested. So that is true so we do not know direct
consumption of this, because notice have been turned down, that is the objective fact.
The third point is about the "American Corn", and if I can give you such anecdotes,
"American GM Corn" are not labelled, how do you know that? What is its effect? What
is its toxicity? And, obviously, there are more than a hundred of papers showing and
published in very good journals. I can give many references which have shown the
detrimental effect of BT Toxin.

xxxx

Chairperson:

But before having this BT talong scheduled and allowed for field testing, is it not proper
that it should be first determined whether this food product is really safe for eating or
not?

Dr. Cariño:

There is an initial assessment that is generally done and according to the Codex
Alimentarius of the WHO, the thing that you do at this early stage of development is to
compare the sequence of the protein that is being introduced with published sequence
of allergens, as well as toxicants and toxins. So that has been done. Then you have to
look for instability under heat conditions because there is seldom do we heat grow
eggplants, so is it stable under heating. Is it stable in the presence of digestive juices?
And, if the answer is "yes", there is at least fair certainty, a fair assurance that it is likely
to be safe but then you start thinking of what other component not present in the
product, does this. For example, any product that we consume today has something
that is bad for you, otherwise, you will not see it right now. Otherwise all the different
herbivores will be eating it up, right? It will be extinct if it does not have anything to
protect itself and, so, the thing is one, to quantify how much of that has changed when
you lead the genetic modification. So "Talong" has been known to have Solanine and
glycoalkaloids whose level well have to quantify. We have not done that yet. They have
not submitted the data for that and this as secondary metabolize whose relative
concentration will change depending on the environment to which you actually place
the system.

Dr. Chakraborty:

x x x In india, we have a very bad experience x x x in location field trial with

the BT Cotton. You known that BT Cotton was introduced in India through the back
door black market entry. During the field trial, some of those seeds were taken out and
given to the farmers for commercial cultivation to black market. Monsanto goes well,
Monsanto's BT Cotton, like Monsanto, did not sue now apparently sue the company
and they compelled the government that farmers wanted those things and there was
high ... how they pressurized the government. Now, in case of Bt cotton is one thing,
but Bt Eggplant is completely a different thing. That is why [the] Supreme Court in India
has taken a very strong stand and, now, the parliamentary committee in India. The
Supreme Court has also taken steps stand with the field trial. The first thing in field trial
we had to see that whether there is a definite need of this kind of intervention, because
the eggplant is a very common vegetable in this part of the world. There are so many
hundreds of varieties here, these are the origins of these varieties of this kind of
vegetable. It is cheap. It is available everyday. So why you go on changing if there is
no crisis in cultivating the eggplants at present. Therefore, when you give it to this
patented seeds technology, its prices will increase, lot of restrictions had to be deal.
So, who will consume this high price eggplant. Many will be exported, that was why the
proponents are looking into it. But, basically, that is the thing that in case of Bt Brinjal,
neighbor partisan is being given. There is a moratorium in India from the Supreme
Court and from the government side on field trial of Bt Brinjal. Now, if x x x
the Bt Eggplant is being taken to the Philippines, we guess, to get in as a bypass, and
who will guarantee that it will not go to the farmers?

xxxx

Justice Antonio-Valenzuela:
 And, I was wondering in the conduct of the tests, the field testing x x x what would be
the effect of the planting .... of the existence of the genetically modified organism, for
example, on insects, on the soil, on the air? And then I was thinking, does this have
this particular protein that result[s] due to the genetic modification? Is it ... how is it
expelled, for example how does it go into the environment? Or, on the other hand, how
does it go inside and out of human system so that does it disintegrate or is it just there
forever? I am very curious, sir. You have to educate me.

Dr. Davies:

x x x Okay, the DNA is in every cell of the eggplant and, so, a very small amount to
protein produced by each cell will be this Bt protein. It does not get into the
environment in general. A very small amount might be in the pollen or in the leaves that
fall to the ground but it has been shown to be broken down in the soil by organisms so
it will not exist in the environment. The only way that it is going to get into animals or
insects is if they eat the fruit and this is what an insect that the "talong" fruit and shoot
borer will be trying to. But, if it eats it, it reacts with its intestine so that they become
toxic to the caterpillar but this is very specific to the digestive system of the caterpillar.
It does not affect bees. It does not affect animals. It does not affect humans.

xxxx

Dr. Davies:

At the scientific level, it gets changed by alkalinity of the insect gut and reacts with
specific receptors of the cells of the walls of the insect gut. But, this is very specific to
the gut of these insects namely the "Lepidoptera" and some "coleoptera" which are the
butterflies and the beetles but it will only affect if they try to eat the plant. Now, you are
asking us if what is the effect on the environment. x x x I would like to cite x x x a
recent paper published in the journal "Nature" x x x the most prestigious scientific
journal in the world, x x x published in "Nature" in June this year and this is the result of
a study of "insects" in Bt Cotton fields in China in 17 locations for 14 years of a long
period study. And these scientists revolt that they show a marked increase in the
abundance of three types of generalist arthropod predators (ladywings, lacewings and
spiders) and a decrease in abundance of aphid pests associated with widespread
adoption of Bt cotton. And they are referring to China and they conclude that such
crops, x x x Bt crops, can promote beneficial control services in agricultural
landscapes. And, it also showed that these effects extend beyond the field. So,
essentially x x x they found that there were more insects than in conventionally grown
cotton and the insect diversity was greater surrounded than being detrimental to an
agriculture ecosystem such BT cotton falls beneficial.

Dr. Chakraborty:

May I interject, your Honor. Now he is citing one paper they are. But in "Nature," there
was another news article, "Battlefield". One stream ecologist in United States itself, in a
university, she has studied the effect of growing BT Corn in the field and what is the
effect on the stream ecology, the west water, what is happening to other insects,
insects in which it is getting that Bt toxin will not go. Yes, she has found that stream
ecology...

xxxx

Dr. Chakraborty:

Why was it published in "Nature" when that stream ecologist from Loyola University
Chicago in Illinois published that paper, published that article in PNAS or Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious journal? Now, they have to desert
her. She was abused, so her file was taken out. So people started e-mailing,
threatening her. So "Nature" has to publish that. How dirty the field has become so they
entitled it "Battelfield." If anybody produces any evidence that BT Toxin or GM
Technology is doing any harm to the environment then it will be battered by the entire
English lobby so there is worst the situation. But National Academy of Sciences in
United States has taken a strong decision and, in last year, there were six publications
that published where strong evidences are being produced about the environmental
and ecological damage cause[d] by this technology. So, that is the case.
Dr. Davies:

Can I respond to that, your Honors?

Dr. Malayang:

I think Filipinos should be able to talk also here.

Chairperson:

Can we give a chance to Dr. Malayang?

Dr. Malayang:

x x x My concern is on the process and participants in vetting the safety of GM crops,

not necessarily the intricacies of the science involved in genetic modification per se
which, I think our international friends, would like to focus on. x x x

One, I am concerned with the fallibility of technology, x x x even if it is much founded

on or produced from the most robust sciences, a technology could fail to be as useful
as it was intended or its use lead to an [unintended harm to humans and the
environment. This is so because science, by nature, as many scientists will agree, is
very probabilistic rather than absolutist. Many cases of common knowledge illustrate
this point. May I just refer, for the Court's notice for, First, the Nuclear Power Plants in
Japan x x x. The best science and the best technology did not necessarily translate to
absolute safety.

Second example, the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, India. It was among the most
advanced production ton at its time, yet, we know what happened. x x x Union
Carbide's [hurry] to set up a plant to take advantage of a large pesticide market in India
to help the country's farmers led to a massive and deadly safety failure.

The Third example is the green revolution, x x x involves, however, the wide [use] of
synthetic chemicals for fertilizer and pesticides that were [at] the time hailed as wonder
technologies. Many scientists in the world at that time argued for their wider use but
they later turned out to harm people, soils and water. They prove good then bad, so
bad that scientists today are using their ill effects as justification for adopting alternative
technologies to get us out of the synthetic chemical regime in agriculture.

And finally, the most common example would be the unintended effects of medicine. x
x x Medicines are technologies intended to do good but, with even the best science
and the vetting processes using rigid safety and risk assessment methods, they still
could cause side effects entirely undesired and many of which can cause chronic or
acute threats to human life. This includes the use of "DDT" that was used to control lice
among soldiers after the II World War which, after all, proved to be very bad.

x x x I am also concerned with the fragility, fragility of the Philippine environment as the
place and context, the particular place and context of the introduction of Bt crops
like Bt talong. x x x the Philippines is among the world's biologically rich countries. x x x
So, many of our insects are not even fully known. We do not know how they all behave
to influence the transfer of genetic materials from plants to other plants. We do not fully
know what we do not know about the intricate interactions between plants and
between insects and other living things that define the universe of our healthful and
balanced ecology. The universe of our healthful and balanced ecology certainly go
beyond specific crops. I am concerned that, absent a full as against partial
understanding of the intricate web of genetic flows and interactions among plants,
animals and other living things in our wet and tropical ecosystems, it will require
extraordinary care to tamper with any one element of this swirl of interrelationships.
This is notwithstanding the seeming preponderance of evidence of safety in other
countries and environment that are certainly not the same as ours. x x x we must be
extra careful because the effects might be irreversible. Introducing a genetically
modified plant x x x could cause a string of changes across many plants that, like the
green revolution or in the case of medicine and the two other cases cited above, could
turn out and only to be realized much later to be harmful to humans and the
environment more than they were intended to be useful. x x x let us ensure that we
adopt in the country a biosafety vetting protocol that is: (1) sensitive to our high
biodiversity this is a particular condition in the Philippines; and (2) tested for error
 levels that are acceptable to or which can be tolerated by our people. My affidavit
states a three-stage approach to this, x x x the tests that we will be doing is a test
process acceptable to all as well rather than merely concocted or designed by just a
few people x x x must be a product of wider citizens' participation and reflect both
scientific and traditional knowledge and cultural sensitivity of our people. It is in the
NBF after all, x x x introducing Bt talong in the Philippines must be decided on the
grounds of both science and public policy and public policy, in this case, must involve
full public disclosure and participation in accepting both the potential gains and
possible pains of Bt Talong. The stakes, both positive and negative, are so high that I
believe Bt Talong would require more public scrutiny and wider democratic decision
making beyond the [realm] of science, x x x for the sake of our country and our rich
biodiversity x x x prudence requires that maximum efforts be exerted to ensure its
safety beyond the parameters of science and into the sphere of public policy. For to fail
in doing so what might be highly anticipated to be beneficial may in some twist of
failure or precaution and prudence and failure for due diligence to establish the safety
of Bt Talong beyond reasonable doubt, the Bt Talong may turn out to be harmful after
all. This we certainly do not want to do. I submit these views to the Court.

xxxx

Dr. Davies:

x x x another thing I would like to point out to the Court is, if you come into a market in
the Philippines and you see nice Talong, it has probably been treated with various
insecticides. So, there has been insecticide spray on your tips in your crops which are
going to be harm on your farmers, your farmer's children, the insect populations and
also dangerous to the consumers as well. By contrast, Bt Talong, if it is adopted,
the Bt has been shown to be beneficial to the insects and the environment and also
has been shown not to be toxic in food. Therefore, we are changing a highly toxic
chemical application for a much more benign modern technique that is beneficial to the
environment and beneficial to the consumers. That is my comment with the views just
made by my Filipino colleagues, your Honors.

Dr. Malayang:

x x x You know, in ecology and, I am sure you are aware of this, an expansion of
anyone population or a reduction of that population it would still be both not beneficial
to the healthful and balanced ecological health of the ecosystem. So to say that
because the population of insects are exploded and the diversity of insects exploded
as a result of this particular intervention is not necessarily good. That is my first point.
The second one, you mentioned x x x the "talong" is laden with pesticide. The same
pesticide were advised by scientists from the USAID before for us to use in this country
because this is how to expand our production of food. This was part of the green
revolution, the systemic use of pesticides and fertilizer. Now, of course, they were
misused, I can guarantee that but, again, if that be the case, in the case of pesticide
why can it not be in the case of Bt that it can also be misused? x x x we are talking
here not of the science or of the technology but on the policy aspect of the adoption of
the technology. As I said, I am talking about the bakery not of a baked-bread.

Dr. Saturnina Halos:

Well, the use of pesticide in the eggplant, right now, is very much abused. x x x In
terms of the use of Bt Talong, then, that kind of misuse is not going to happen x x x.
Now, in the Philippines, we have a very strict highly monitored field testing and I think
Dr. Malayang knows about that because he was one of those who prepared the
guidelines for the field testing. So that is not going to happen, it is a very strict
regulatory system. We are known for that, actually, and...

xxxx

Dr. Saturnina Halos:

No, no. It does not happen because we have a risk management plan x x x.

xxxx

Dr. Halos:
 x x x As far as do we know what is happening after we have given approval, yes, we
are monitoring. We are monitoring as far as BT corn is concerned. We are monitoring,
continuously monitoring, not only for the beneficial insects but also the effects that is
continuing, we are also continuing to monitor the weeds, weed population. In weed we
decide to spray...

Dr. Malayang:

And why is this, ma'am, why are we monitoring? Because they could be harmful?

Dr. Halos:

No we have to know what is happening.

Dr. Malayang:

Yes, why? Because if you are sure that they are safe, if you are sure that they are safe,
why monitor?

Dr. Halos:

Well, we are going to give you the data for that because you keep on asking, you know,
you asked for a long term and we are going to give you that complete data.

xxxx

Dr. Medina:

I would like to raise several issues because I feel they are misleading sometimes. Dr.
Davies mentioned that the Bt protein is a protein, therefore, it is safe. Are you sure that
all proteins are safe, Dr. Davies? Are you aware of anti-nutrients and allergens and
other kinds of protein x x x it is a misleading generalization. Secondly, I would like to
say also that, when you say that Bt crops is beneficial to insect population but, how
about humans? But, let me tell and inform the Honorable Justices also that, in
agriculture, there can be, the pests are there to reduce the yield. There are also
diseases so, that this Bt is only controlling one kind of pest and, in my monitoring of Bt
corn as an example to this 2 years after the commercialization in 2003, at first planting
in 2003, the corn is attacked by about a dozen insect pests and six major diseases.
The Bt corn was attacked a "stem rot", a fungal disease. And, in this case in eggplant,
there are many fungal diseases, "phomopsis" x x x So in that case it is not field safe
that you will not be using pesticide anymore with Bt eggplant. When you use
the Bt eggplant, assuming that there is no more insect pests x x x There are many
other methods of control and, therefore, do not assume that you do not use pesticide
therefore, Bt is the only solution. That is also a risky and wrong generalization or
statement, x x x Dr. Halos x x x says that field tests are safe. I intend to disagree with
that. Safe to what? Especially to contamination. If I may use this picture of the field
testing of the Bt eggplant x x x it was encircled with cyclone wire with a diameter of
something like approximately 10 cm. by 7 cm. hole. While bees that can pollinate that,
the size is about 1 cm. in length and .5 cm. in diameter of the insect. The bees and, in
that case, they can easily get in and get out and when they settle into the flowers and
snip nectars and the fall of the pollen then they can bring out the pollen to contaminate
outside that. In fact, even assuming that the fence is very small in size of the mess, the
holes, still the insects can fly above that fence because the fence is only about 5 feet in
height. So, in that case it is not safe. Some arguments say that "well the pollen will be
dead" but, according to this technical manual of the Training Workshop On Data
Collection for Researchers And Collaborators of Multi-Location Trials of Fruit and Shoot
Borers Resistant Eggplant, that is the Bt Eggplant produced by the Institute of Plant
Breeding in UPLB who is one of the main researchers the datas, here say according to
"Rasco", cited by Dr. Narciso, is that the pollen can live 8 to 10 days pollen by ability at
20 to 22 degrees centigrade, with a relative humidity of 50 to 55. x x x Meaning to say,
that pollen can survive. This can fly as fast as something like 60 kilometers per hours
so it just take may be 3 minutes and it can travel 4 kilometers and 4 kilometers is the
effective flying distance of a bee in their normal foraging.

xxxx

Dr. Medina:
 x x x There is no data on the contamination so how come they argue, how can they
conclude that it is safe when they have not monitored any potential pollen flow by
insect mitigated or insect mediated flow pollen? So, in that case, the conclusion or the
statement is really beyond what their data may be is if their data is about safety.

xxxx

Dr. Ebora:

xxxx

x x x I hope that we will be able to look at the experimental design and you will see that
all the things are properly addressed, our risk assessment was done step by step. x x x
I beg to disagree with my friend Dr. Medina because it is becoming ... we are confusing
2 things. We are not referring to contained trial. We are referring to confined field trial
and in the design of this particular experiment, you have your Bt eggplant, your non-
Bt eggplant so that you can compare the performance with the 2 crops. And, on
design, you have 5 rows of plant Bt eggplants that will serve as a pollen trap. When we
say pollen trap is that it just open the pollen from the transgenic. It is going to be
trapped by those plants, 5 rows, and then, after that, you have a space of 200 meters
surrounding the field which is the isolation distance. That means no eggplant should be
present in that particular distance because that is the isolation distance that is found to
be safe, x x x we know that Bt protein is very specific x x x effective only against
caterpillar x x x if they are eaten by other organism, they are not affected because it is
very specific. The gut of the larva is very alkaline while the gut of other insects is likely
acidic and, in that case, it does not have any harmful effect. x x x So another thing is
we are saying that it seems to be ridiculous that you are saying that honeybee is going
to fly from the fence and the size were even indicated. I would like to indicate that, that
is not the purpose of the fence. It is not to contain the insects. It is to prevent vandalism
which is quite, unfortunately, being done by other groups who are against the
technology. x x x We should be able to have our own space, our own time, considering
the given regulation. Follow them. But our experimentation not be destroyed because it
is only then that we will be able to get the valuable data that is needed for an informed
decision. Without that we will not be able to proceed and I hope we can discuss this
based on the merits of the field trial, not from any other concern because the writ
of kalikasan is about the effect of field trial in the environment.

Dr. Medina:

Mr. Justice, can I give this immediate counteract to the one statement of Dr. [Ebora]?
He said that the "CrylAcc" is specific to caterpillars and, in fact, only some kinds of
caterpillar, some species, if you can read by chemical and by physical research
communications this is Volume 271, pages 54-58, authored by Vasquez Pardonnet,
published in 2000, publication under letter (b), "CrylAcc protoxin" binds to the mucosal
surface of the mouse small intestine. Small intestine ay mammal po iyan so, meaning,
it is a proxy animal for safety [testing] to humans because we are also mammals so,
the mice are usually the mammals 12 years ago, the data has been already there that
there is binding site, therefore it is not only specific to insects but also to mammals, x x
x he is saying that, by working on the natural Bt is the same as the transformed Bt it is
not true because the natural Bt has 1155 "base pairs" of nucleic acids. And the
transformed GM Crop contains a fragment of that Bt gene which is only half of that.
And the mechanism, by the way, x x x the natural toxin is broken into smaller pieces
inside the intestine of the insects because it is alkaline in terms of its system "ph" and
for humans acidic. So it does not work. But, Bt because the transformed is already
half, almost half of the normal or natural[ly] occurring Bt protein, it is already
activated and, in that case, that is the reason why there is a test and immediate effect
to non-insect, meaning, to mammal, so that is the explanation of scientist doing studies
on that aspect.

x x xx

Dr. Chakraborty:

The scientists have 3 problems: One, the sparks, we have a tunnel vision; the second,
fear vision; x x x I will give some example. Yes, Bt toxin, was it really good biological
control agent? But it is a completely different gene when you produce it into an edible
plant inside genetically. So, these are 2 different things. What will happen? We are
 scared that the efficacy, the use of Bt toxin as a spray, as biological control agent, will
be vanished because now there will be resistance against those in Bt toxin, x x x
resistance is coming very quickly, just like antibiotic resistance. x x x The second thing,
I have asked many plant biologists this simple question, simple honest question. Do
you know any plant that can kill a bee or a moth? No! There is no way, why? Because
those are the "pollinators". Plant never kills a bee or a moth that goes against nature. x
x x So, nature, for thousands of years, farmers help select or adopt edible non-toxic
plants. And, now, with the high science we are converting them, non-toxic edible plant
into a toxic plant. So not only toxic for the human, for the root microorganisms. x x x
Those eggplants are not only for humans to consume. So human effect, we do not
know but what will be the effect? Who will mind the effect? Is it the animal which goes
through it? x x x in India, x x x farmers x x x while growing Bt cotton x x x the leaves
and other they use to attract animals to eat, x x x they found suddenly one thing that
the Bt cotton plants are not touched by those buffalos, those cows, those [boars], but
they can distinguish which is Bt and non-Bt, x x x and when their animals started dying
in some cases, they always blame, it is this animal which has eaten that Bt? x x x
these are [going] against nature. Only few edible seed plants are there and we are
converting one safest plant into a poisonous and toxic plant and what is the effect on
the root microorganisms on the degrading animals and other? We do not know. That
hard thing is the tunnel vision, the confined field trial, x x x why implement this confined
field trial? Is this safe? Why do they have to do this x x x these things do good for a
normal hybrid that is something but for the gene concept we cannot follow the same
separation rules, same rules? So those are used, those separation distincts, those
parameters are used not for the gene. So, which is the safe field trial protocol for the
gene plants? We do not know. So there goes against [the] writ of kalikasan.

xxxx

Justice Antonio-Valenzuela:

How much is the increase in crop yield? x x x

Dr. Halos:

x x x The average increase yield is about 24% and that is for corn. And this data is
actually taken by our own Filipino scientists, Dr. Lluroge and Dr. Gonzales.

xxxx

Dr. Malayang:

x x x my question is for Ma'am Nina. I have not been up to date lately on the production
of corn so, you mean to say that corn production in the country has gone up and,
because of that, you are saying that 24% and the income of farmers had gone up as
well? Do you mean to say that the price of com had also gone up as a result of the
increase in the volume of com production in the Philippines?

Dr. Halos:

Well, the price is dictated by the market.

Dr.Malayang:

That is precisely the point.

Dr. Halos:

Yes.

Dr. Malayang:

x x x I am just bringing, hopefully to the attention of the Court, that, when you talk of a
technology such as GM Com or GM Talong affecting market there is also not only the
regulatory but economic regime that is attendant to it that makes adjustments. So it
may not be harmful to humans because we will not come out when we eat it but it
might be harmful to the economy of a particular agricultural crop. x x x

xxxx
Dr. Ebora:

x x x there are a lot of local studies being conducted now by entomologists from
[UPLB] and those are independent studies. And, precisely, this is to determine the
effect on natural enemies and the different insects x x x and some of those are already
available, x x x you will be able to protect the environment only if you know how to
have a proper information in making the decision. So, again, I am saying that, in field
trial, you will be generating a lot of information that you will be able to use in making a
wise decision and informed decision.

x x x I would like to correct the impression lodged by the statement of Dr. Chakraborty
regarding butterflies and moths. Because they are not affected by Bt because they are
adult insects. The only one that is affected are actually the larva, not even the pupa.
So, we would like that to be clear because it might create confusion.

The other thing in resistance, x x x even conventionally bred plant [loses] resistance
after sometime and that is the reason why we have a continuous breeding program.
So, it is a natural mechanism by an organism as mode of ad[a]potation. x x x are you
telling us that we are going to stop our breeding work because, anyway, they are going
to develop resistance. I think it is a wrong message x x x.

The other thing is in terms of the study cited by Dr. Medina regarding the "binding." In
toxicology, you can have the effect if you have, for example, the insects, you have a
receptor. The toxin will bind into the receptor. Toxin has to fall and then the toxin has
re-insert into the membrane. If you eliminate one of those steps you do not have any
toxicity. So, that means binding by itself will not be toxicity. It is a wrong impression
that, since you have binding, there will be toxicity. It is simply wrong because, the
actuality that it should bind, it should fall then, it should insert, and it is a very common
x x x. To say that binding is equivalent to toxicity is simply not true.

The other one is natural Bt toxin and activated toxin. When you were saying protoxin,
protoxin is basically the entire crystal protein. If it is already inside the gut of the insect
it has to be clipped by the purchase coming from the gut and you have it activated and
you have the toxin. So what you have in plant is already the toxin since the anther and
the toxin, and the toxin in microorganisms, the anther which are already clipped by a
purchase are the same. So, to say that they are different is actually wrong. You are
comparing protoxin and toxin.

x x x regarding the protein, x x x do you know a lot of proteins of another

characteristics and that is why you have to characterize them and you have to
separate the protein that are causing problem and protein that are not causing
problem. That is why you have allergen and, as explained by Dr. Cariño, you have to
check the sequence. x x x

xxxx

Dr. Chakraborty:

x x x the field trial wanted to basically go to the protocol. This is the efficacy, the
efficiency of the production not that much into the safety. You have to look into it
carefully that how much will get this efficacy, not the safety to that extent x x x. Second
point x x x there is this already mentioned that European Union there is no consensus,
x x x they have published and submitted the systemic list of genetically modified crop
need for new approach in risk assessment. So that is what is needed. There is another
article, how does scientific risk assessment of GM crop fit within wider risk analysis. x x
x This is genetic engineering. The production process is very precise in selecting the
inserted gene but not in its enhancement, x x x they are never looking into it. The
second thing, they do not look into that from the laboratory condition to what is the real
life situation. They do not take that into account x x x so this assessment protocol has
to be modified or changed, x x x in the IAASTD or International Assessment of
Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development. There is a supreme
body, so many nations, so many experts, scientists x x x. Only sustainable agricultural
practice and that is the only alternative. This GM technology is not going to help them.
x x x In my country also, when the Bt toxin evaluation was there, everybody was telling
that this is pro-poor, this is scale neutral so, everybody will be benefitted by that. So,
we started questioning. x x x "What are the actual economic analysis indeed? Just
show me". Then, they come up with an answer. Scale neutral means that even small
 farmers initially wanted Bt cotton and big farmers also wanted Bt cotton. They are
partisans. It is not the economic benefit because, economically, it is not going to be
beneficial so it is very much scale dependent its benefit. So, only the big farmers, large
farmers and x x x the vegetable field you never can give separation. Chances you
never can give refuge. The 1/5 of the land given for growing pests so that you cannot
do. So it cannot help technology. They have developed this technology for partisan
large scale farming to completely automated for Bt technology where no label will be
there. But the failed experiments, the contracts whose patent will be over within 2-3
years, they are testing them in our country. So that is the bottom line.

xxxx

Chairperson:

Let us put, probably, a close to this hot tub proceeding now.

The issue that the Court is really interested to resolve is whether or not the conduct of
the field trial of Bt talong by the respondents has violated or has threatened to violate
the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology. Is there absolute certainty
that it has not so violated such right. Because that is the requirement for applying or
not applying the precautionary principle. x x x

Dr. Cariño:

Yes. The answer to that is we have not violated, you know, the right of the people...

Chairperson:

But there is no absolute certainty?

Dr. Cariño:

Well, quite certain, your Honor, because we have placed all the necessary measures
and they did not show us, you know, there is no evidence of harm that has been shown
to this Court. There is no evidence at all.

Chairperson:

That is your opinion.95

As shown by the foregoing, the hot tub hearing has not yielded any consensus on the points of contention
between the expert witnesses, i.e., the safety of Bt talong to humans and the environment. Evidently, their opinions
are based on contrasting findings in hundreds of scientific studies conducted from the time Bt technology was
deployed in crop farming. These divergent views of local scientists reflect the continuing international debate on
GMOs and the varying degrees of acceptance of GM technology by states especially the developed countries (USA,
EU, Japan, China, Australia, etc.).

Before proceeding to the current state of global GMO research, we briefly address the strong objection of
petitioners to the CA's reliance on the research conducted by Prof. Seralini, the French scientist whose study was
published in September 2012 in Food and Chemical Toxicology, which was criticized as a "controversial feeding
study." Seralini studied rats consuming Monsanto's Roundup Ready treated corn for two years (using the same kind
of rats prone to tumors used by Monsanto in oBtaining original approval for its product and the same methodologies,
but did it for 2 years which is longer than the 90-day experiment period done by Monsanto). The rats formed
massive cancerous tumors. All three test groups of rats, with 10 rats in each group, died more frequently, suffered
from liver problems, and had a pronounced number of tumors specifically with grotesque mammary and testicular
tumors.96

Seralini's findings created an uproar and the study was expunged from the publication in November 2013 even
though the Editor-in-Chief found no evidence of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of the data. Seralini stood by
his work and further conducted similar laboratory experiments. Critics faulted the experimental method, saying the
number of rats studied was too small and their diet was skewed when compared with their natural food intake. But
over 300 scientists condemned the retraction, they said that the retraction lacked scientific integrity and requested to
reinstate the study. Last June 2014, Seralini's controversial study was republished and has passed a third peer
review arranged by the journal that is republishing the study, Environmental Sciences Europe. The republished
version contains extra material addressing criticisms of the original publication and the raw data underlying the
study's findings, and accompanied by a separate commentary by Prof. Seralini's team describing the lobbying
efforts of GMO crop supporters to force the editor of the Food and Chemical Toxicology to retract the original
publication.97

The aforesaid incident serves to underscore the crucial role of scientists in providing relevant information for
effective regulation of GMOs. There can be no argument that "[s]ince scientific advice plays a key role in GMO
regulations, scientists have a responsibility to address and communicate uncertainty to policy makers and the
public."98

GMOs: The Global Debate

The uncertainties generated by conflicting scientific findings or limited research is not diminished by extensive
use at present of GM technology in agriculture. The global area of GM crops has reached over 175 million hectares
in 2013, more than a hundredfold increase from 1.7 million hectares in 1996.99 However, the worldwide debate on
safety issues involving GM foods continues.

It has been pointed out that the crux of the controversy surrounding GMOs lies in the very nature of the
technology itself. The process of combining inter-species genes, which is called recombinant DNA technology, does
not have the checks and balances that are imposed by nature in traditional breeding. Because of this there is a
risk of genetic instability. This means that no one can make any accurate predictions about the long-term effects of
GMOs on human beings and the environment. Extensive testing in this regard is either very expensive or
impractical, and there is still a great deal about the process that scientists do not understand.100

The basic concepts for the safety assessment of foods derived from GMOs have been developed in close
collaboration under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the
United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The OECD's
group of experts on biosafety recommended conducting the safety assessment of a GM food on case-by-case basis
through comparison to an existing food with a long history of safe use. Thus, the concept of substantial
equivalence was developed that is widely used by national and international agencies, including the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), the WHO, OECD and the FAO.101

"Substantial equivalence embodies the concept that if a new food or food component is found to be substantially
equivalent to an existing food or food component, it can be treated in the same manner with respect to safety (i.e.,
the food or food component can be concluded to be as safe as the conventional food or food component)."102 The
safety assessment of a genetically modified food is directed by the results of a comparison between the genetically
modified food and its conventional counterpart. It follows a stepwise process aided by a series of structured
questions. Factors taken into account in the safety assessment include:

identity;

source;

composition;

effects of processing/cooking;

transformation process;

the recombinant DNA (e.g. stability of insertion, potential for gene transfer);

protein expression product of the novel DNA:

effects on function;

potential toxicity;

potential allergenicity;

possible secondary effects from gene expression or the disruption of the host DNA or metabolic
pathways, including composition of critical macro, micro-nutrients, anti-nutrients, endogenous
toxicants, allergens, and physiologically active substances; and,

potential intake and dietary impact of the introduction of the genetically modified food.103

The above factors are particularly pertinent to the assessment of foods derived from genetically modified
plants.104 However, the concept of substantial equivalence as the starting point of risk assessment was criticized for
being "unscientific and arbitrary" and "intentionally vague and ill-defined to be as flexible, malleable, and open to
interpretation as possible." It is likewise argued that "comparisons are designed to conceal significant changes
resulting from genetic modifications," "the principle is weak and misleading even when it does not apply, effectively
giving producers carte blanche", and that there is insufficiency of background information for assessing substantial
equivalence. A paper presented at a WHO workshop pointed out that the main difficulty associated with the
biosafety assessment of transgenic crops is the unpredictable nature of transformation. This unpredictability raises
the concern that transgenic plants will behave in an inconsistent manner when grown commercially.105

The method of testing GM foods was further described as inadequate, as currently the testing procedures
consist almost exclusively of specific chemical and biochemical analytical procedures designed to quantitate a
specific nutrient or a specific toxin or allergen. It was noted that in actual practice, the investigator compares only
selected characteristics of the genetically engineered food to those of its non-genetically engineered counterpart.
These testing schemes are viewed as completely incapable of detecting unsuspected or unanticipated health risks
that are generated by the process of genetic engineering itself. Hence, clinical tests are recommended because only
such tests have the broad specificity and relevance to human physiology needed to detect the wide range of
allergens and toxins that might result from unexpected side-effects of the genetic engineering process.106

In another review article, it was pointed out that since a genetic modification is aimed at introducing new traits
into organisms, the result will always be a different composition of genes and proteins. The most reasonable
interpretation therefore is that a food derived from a GMO is considered substantially equivalent to its traditional
counterpart if the genetic modification has not resulted in intended or unintended alterations in the composition of
relevant nutrients and inherent toxicants of the organism, and that the new genes and proteins have no adverse
impact on the dietary value of the food and do not therefore pose any harm to the consumer or the environment. It
was thus concluded that establishing substantial equivalence is not a safety assessment in itself, but is a pragmatic
tool to analyze the safety of a new food, and hence in the testing of new foods, the latest scientific methods have to
be used. All conceivable efforts to protect consumers from health risks should thus be made, and at the same time,
consumers should be adequately informed about the real extent of risks and hazards.107

The GMO global debate has so intensified that each side has accused the other camp of mounting "paid
advocacy" and criticizing studies adverse to their respective positions as flawed or unscientific. Both the agri-
business industry, and groups opposed to GMOs including the organic farming industry, had utilized enormous
resources and funds for lobbying and media campaigns locally and internationally.

What appears to be highlighted in the promotion of GM crop production is the marked reduction in the use of
harmful chemical pesticides.108 The resulting increase in crop yields grown on relatively small parcels of land is also
regarded as a solution to the problem of feeding a fast growing world population. Proponents of GM biotechnology
insist that GM foods are safe to humans and the environment based on scientific studies. On the other hand, anti-
GM activists disseminate adverse results of recent studies confirming the health and environmental hazards of
genetically engineered crop farming. Also, some countries have maintained a firm stance against genetically
engineered crops or GM foods, such as France and Austria. Over the years, however, accumulated evidence of the
dangers of GMOs, as well as unrealized socio-economic benefits, has been increasingly recognized by the scientific
community.

That GE farming increases crop yield has been debunked by new studies proving the contrary. In the article,
"GM Crops Do Not Increase Yield Potential," the Institute for Responsible Technology cited reports from actual field
studies in different countries revealing downward figures for Bt crops, as summarized below:

Bt corn took longer to reach maturity and produced up to 12% lower yields than non-GM
counterparts.

Evidence for the "yield drag" of Roundup Ready soybeans has been known for over a decade -
with the disruptive effect of the GM transformation process accounting for approximately half the
drop in yield.

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of yield since the introduction of commercial GM crops,

the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD)
noted that GM crop yields were "highly variable" and in some cases, "yields declined".

The Union of Concerned Scientists' 2009 report Failure to Yield, based on published peer-
reviewed studies conducted by academic scientists using adequate controls, concluded that
genetically engineered herbicide tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not
increased yields while insect-resistant corn has only marginally improved yields. Traditional
breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down.

In developing countries, crop failure can have severe consequences as illustrated in India, where
a large number of cotton farmers, unable to pay back high interest loans, have committed
suicide. Several investigations have implicated the unreliable performance of Bt cotton as a
major contributor.
 Bt cotton was overrun by pests in Indonesia and China. In South Africa, farmers faced pest
problems and no increase in yield. The 100,000 hectares planted in 1998 dropped 80% to
22,500 by 2002. As of 2004, 85% of the original Bt cotton farmers had given up while those
remaining had to be subsidized by the government. Similarly in the US, Bt cotton yields are not
necessarily consistent or more profitable.109

GM technology is thus seen as a failure in terms of addressing food security; rather, it supports corporate control
and impedes common persons' access to adequate food. The root cause of hunger is not a lack of food, GM critics
say, but a lack of access to food. The poor lack money to buy food and lack of land on which to grow it. It is
essential to follow sustainable traditional farming practices that keeps food production in the hands of small-scale
farmers, thereby reducing corporate control.110

As regards the existing uncertainties of potential long-term effects of the release into the environment of GMOs,
the BEETLE (Biological and Ecological Evaluation towards Long-term Effects) study of 2009,111 made for the
European Commission, analyzed more than 700 scientific publications from all over the world about GMOs and their
potential effects on environment including biodiversity, and received contributions to online surveys from 100 to 167
invited environmental experts. This study declared the following uncertainties:

increased fitness of GM plants;

outbreeding depression after hybridization with wild relatives;

outcrossing between related species and the fate of a transferred GM trait;

altered flower phenology;

altered fecundity, increasing seed (gene) flow;

increased frequency of horizontal gene flow;

resistance development of pests;

effects on non-target organisms;

effects on non-target organisms due to altered nutritional composition of the GM plant;

effects on non-target organisms due to accumulation of toxic compounds;

effects on rhizo sphere microbiota;

effects on symbiotic non-target organisms;

changes in soil functions caused by GM traits;

effects on biological control;

altered use of agrochemicals;

indirect changes in susceptibility of crops against pathogens;

adverse effects on agro-biodiversity;

indirect effects in fertilizer use;

potential changes in landscape structure;

increased production of greenhouse gases;

increased mineral nutrient erosion and fertilizer leaching;

altered chemical attributes of soil fraction;

emerging of stacked events;

the necessity of regional differentiation of risk assessments.112

A critical observation was made on the argument that there is not enough evidence to reject the hypothesis that
GMO and GM food is safe. The fact emphasized was that experiments designed to clarify potential adverse effects
on health or the environment are nearly absent in peer-reviewed journals. Scientific uncertainty, omitted research
areas, and lack of basic knowledge crucial to risk assessments have become apparent. The present uncertainty
warrants further research and it has been demonstrated that there is a risk of bias relying on hypotheses that
dominate mainstream science. There is therefore a need for independent research that is without prejudice and
unbiased by economic and professional interests.113 In another article it was noted that the clinical trials carried out
to ensure that negative externalities do not affect humans and the environment are conducted by the same private
firms that created the products, raising conflict of interest concerns.114

While existing literature on health effects of GM foods indicates that they are generally safe, and similar
conclusions have been drawn by government agencies and scientific organizations such as FAO/WHO and Society
of Toxicology, a growing number of independent scientists have spoken strongly against such generalizations from
limited research mostly sponsored by biotech companies.

In 1999, the Open Letter from World Scientists to All Governments signed by 815 scientists from 82 countries
expressed that they are extremely concerned about the hazards of GMOs to biodiversity, food safety, human and
animal health, and demanded a moratorium on environmental releases in accordance with the precautionary
principle. They are opposed to GM crops that will intensify corporate monopoly, exacerbate inequality and prevent
the essential shift to sustainable agriculture that can provide food security and health around the world, and called a
ban on patents of life forms and living processes which threaten food security, sanction biopiracy of indigenous
knowledge and genetic resources and violate basic human rights and dignity.115

On May 10, 2003, dozens of prominent scientists from various disciplines banded together as an Independent
Science Panel on GM at a public conference in London. On June 15, 2003, they released a Final Report116 as their
contribution to the National GM Debate in UK. In a summary117 of the final report, these scientists declared the
following:

The Case for a GM-Free Sustainable World - A Summary

Why GM-Free?

1. GM crops failed to deliver promised benefits

o No increase in yields or significant reduction in herbicide and pesticide use

o United States lost an estimated $12 billion over GM crops amid worldwide rejection

o Massive crop failures of up to 100% reported in India

o High risk future for agbiotech: "Monsanto could be another disaster waiting to happen
for investors"

2. GM crops posing escalating problems on the farm

o Transgenic lines unstable: "most cases of transgene inactivation never reach the
literature"

o Triple herbicide-tolerant volunteers and weeds emerged in North America

o Glyphosate-tolerant weeds plague GM cotton and soya fields, atrazine back in use

o Bt biopesticide traits threatening to create superweeds and Bt-resistant pests

3. Extensive transgenic contamination unavoidable

o Extensive transgenic contamination found in maize landraces in remote regions of

Mexico

o 32 out of 33 commercial seed stocks found contaminated in Canada

o Pollen remains airborne for hours, and a 35 mile per hour wind speed is
unexceptional

o There can be no co-existence of GM and non-GM crops

4. GM crops not safe

o GM crops have not been proven safe: regulation was fatally flawed from the start
 o The principle of 'substantial equivalence', vague and ill defined, gave companies
complete licence in claiming GM products 'substantially equivalent' to non-GM, and
hence 'safe'

5. GM food raises serious safety concerns

o Despite the paucity of credible studies, existing findings raise serious safety
concerns

o 'Growth-factor-like' effects in the stomach and small intestine of young rats were
attributed to the transgenic process or the transgenic construct, and may hence be
general to all GM food

6. Dangerous gene products are incorporated into food crops

o Bt proteins, incorporated into 25% of all GM crops worldwide, are harmful to many
non-target insects, and some are potent immunogens and allergens for humans
and other mammals

o Food crops are increasingly used to produce pharmaceuticals and drugs, including
cytokines known to suppress the immune system, or linked to dementia,
neurotoxicity and mood and cognitive side effects; vaccines and viral sequences
such as the 'spike' protein gene of the pig coronavirus, in the same family as the
SARS virus linked to the current epidemic; and glycoprotein gene gpl20 of the
AIDS virus that could interfere with the immune system and recombine with viruses
and bacteria to generate new and unpredictable pathogens.

7. Terminator crops spread male sterility

o Crops engineered with 'suicide' genes for male sterility, promoted as a means of
preventing the spread of transgenes, actually spread both male sterility and
herbicide tolerance traits via pollen.

8. Broad-spectrum herbicides highly toxic to humans and other species

o Glufosinate ammonium and glyphosate, used with herbicide tolerant GM crops that
currently account for 75% of all GM crops worldwide, are both systemic metabolic
poisons

o Glufosinate ammonium is linked to neurological, respiratory, gastrointestinal and

haematological toxicities, and birth defects in humans and mammals; also toxic to
butterflies and a number of beneficial insects, to larvae of clams and
oysters, Daphnia and some freshwater fish, especially the rainbow trout; it inhibits
beneficial soil bacteria and fungi, especially those that fix nitrogen.

o Glyphosate is the most frequent cause of complaints and poisoning in the UK, and
disturbances to many body functions have been reported after exposures at
normal use levels; glyphosate exposure nearly doubled the risk of late
spontaneous abortion, and children born to users of glyphosate had elevated
neurobehavioral defects; glyphosate retards development of the foetal skeleton in
laboratory rats, inhibits the synthesis of steroids, and is genotoxic in mammals, fish
and frogs; field dose exposure of earthworms caused at least 50 percent mortality
and significant intestinal damage among surviving worms; Roundup (Monsanto's
formulation of glyphosate) caused cell division dysfunction that may be linked to
human cancers.

9. Genetic engineering creates super-viruses

o The most insidious dangers of genetic engineering are inherent to the process; it
greatly enhances the scope and probability of horizontal gene transfer and
recombination, the main route to creating viruses and bacteria that cause disease
epidemics.

o Newer techniques, such as DNA shuffling, allow geneticists to create in a matter of

minutes in the laboratory millions of recombinant viruses that have never existed in
billions of years of evolution
 o Disease-causing viruses and bacteria and their genetic material are the predominant
materials and tools of genetic engineering, as much as for the intentional creation
of bio-weapons.

10. Transgenic DNA in food taken up by bacteria in human gut

o Transgenic DNA from plants has been taken up by bacteria both in the soil and in the
gut of human volunteers; antibiotic resistance marker genes can spread from
transgenic food to pathogenic bacteria, making infections very difficult to treat.

11. Transgenic DNA and cancer

o Transgenic DNA known to survive digestion in the gut and to jump into the genome of
mammalian cells, raising the possibility for triggering cancer

o Feeding GM products such as maize to animals may carry risks, not just for the
animals but also for human beings consuming the animal products

12. CaMV 35S promoter increases horizontal gene transfer

o Evidence suggests that transgenic constructs with the CaMV 35S promoter could be
especially unstable and prone to horizontal gene transfer and recombination, with
all the attendant hazards: gene mutations due to random insertion, cancer, re-
activation of dormant viruses and generation of new viruses.

13. A history of misrepresentation and suppression of scientific evidence

o There has been a history of misrepresentation and suppression of scientific

evidence, especially on horizontal gene transfer. Key experiments failed to be
performed, or were performed badly and then misrepresented. Many experiments
were not followed up, including investigations on whether the CaMV 35S promoter
is responsible for the 'growth-factor-like' effects observed in young rats fed GM
potatoes.

GM crops have failed to deliver the promised benefits and are posing escalating problems on
the farm. Transgenic contamination is now widely acknowledged to be unavoidable, and hence
there can be no co-existence of GM and non-GM agriculture. Most important of all, GM crops
have not been proven safe. On the contrary, sufficient evidence has emerged to raise serious
safety concerns, that if ignored could result in irreversible damage to health and the
environment. GM crops should therefore be firmly rejected now.

The ISP further concluded that [s]ustainable agricultural practices have proven beneficial in all aspects relevant
to health and the environment. In addition, they bring food security and social and cultural well being to local
communities everywhere. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive global shift to all forms of sustainable
agriculture.118

In 2008, a Global Report119 was released by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science
and Technology for Development (IAASTD), a three-year international collaborative effort (2005-2007) developed
out of a consultative process involving 900 participants and 110 countries from all over the world. This global
initiative assessed agricultural knowledge, science and technology (AKST) in relation to meeting development and
sustainability goals of (1) reducing hunger and poverty; (2) improving nutrition, health and rural livelihoods; and (3)
facilitating social and environmental sustainability. The report concluded that a radical transformation of the world's
food and farming systems - especially the policies and institutions that affect them - is necessary if we are to
overcome converging economic and environmental crises and feed the world sustainably. It also warned that
technologies such as high-yielding crop varieties, agrochemicals and mechanization have primarily benefited the
better-resourced groups in society and transnational corporations, rather than the most vulnerable ones. In general,
the IAASTD found little evidence to support a conclusion that modern biotechnologies are well suited to meeting the
needs of small-scale and subsistence farmers, particularly under the increasingly unpredictable environmental and
economic conditions tha they face.120

More recently, in 2013, the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility
(ENSSER), an international group of more than 90 scientists, academics and physicians, released a statement that
there is no scientific consensus on the safety of GM foods and crops.121 The statement122 is herein reproduced:

10/21/13

Statement: No scientific consensus on GMO safety

As scientists, physicians, academics, and experts from disciplines relevant to the scientific, legal, social
and safety assessment aspects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we strongly reject claims by
GM seed developers and some scientists, commentators, and journalists that there is a "scientific
consensus" on GMO safety and that the debate on this topic is "over".

We feel compelled to issue this statement because the claimed consensus on GMO safety does not
exist. The claim that it does exist is misleading and misrepresents the currently available scientific
evidence and the broad diversity of opinion among scientists on this issue. Moreover, the claim
encourages a climate of complacency that could lead to a lack of regulatory and scientific rigour and
appropriate caution, potentially endangering the health of humans, animals, and the environment.

Science and society do not proceed on the basis of a constructed consensus, as current knowledge is
always open to well-founded challenge and disagreement. We endorse the need for further
independent scientific inquiry and informed public discussion on GM product safety and urge GM
proponents to do the same.

Some of our objections to the claim of scientific consensus are listed below.

1. There is no consensus on GM food safety

Regarding the safety of GM crops and foods for human and animal health, a comprehensive review of
animal feeding studies of GM crops found "An equilibrium in the number [of] research groups
suggesting, on the basis of their studies, that a number of varieties of GM products (mainly maize and
soybeans) are as safe and nutritious as the respective conventional non-GM plant, and those raising
still serious concerns". The review also found that most studies concluding that GM foods were as safe
and nutritious as those oBtained by conventional breeding were "performed by biotechnology
companies or associates, which are also responsible [for] commercializing these GM plants".

A separate review of animal feeding studies that is often cited as showing that GM foods are safe
included studies that found significant differences in the GM-fed animals. While the review authors
dismissed these findings as not biologically significant, the interpretation of these differences is the
subject of continuing scientific debate and no consensus exists on the topic.

Rigorous studies investigating the safety of GM crops and foods would normally involve animal feeding
studies in which one group of animals is fed GM food and another group is fed an equivalent non-GM
diet. Independent studies of this type are rare, but when such studies have been performed, some
have revealed toxic effects or signs of toxicity in the GM-fed animals. The concerns raised by these
studies have not been followed up by targeted research that could confirm or refute the initial findings.

The lack of scientific consensus on the safety of GM foods and crops is underlined by the recent
research calls of the European Union and the French government to investigate the long-term health
impacts of GM food consumption in the light of uncertainties raised by animal feeding studies. These
official calls imply recognition of the inadequacy of the relevant existing scientific research protocols.
They call into question the claim that existing research can be deemed conclusive and the scientific
debate on biosafety closed.

2. There are no epidemiological studies investigating potential effects of GM food consumption

on human health

It is often claimed that "trillions of GM meals" have been eaten in the US with no ill effects. However, no
epidemiological studies in human populations have been carried out to establish whether there are any
health effects associated with GM food consumption. As GM foods are not labelled in North America, a
major producer and consumer of GM crops, it is scientifically impossible to trace, let alone study,
patterns of consumption and their impacts. Therefore, claims that GM foods are safe for human health
based on the experience of North American populations have no scientific basis.

3. Claims that scientific and governmental bodies endorse GMO safety are exaggerated or
inaccurate

Claims that there is a consensus among scientific and governmental bodies that GM foods are safe, or
that they are no more risky than non-GM foods, are false.

For instance, an expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada issued a report that was highly critical of
the regulatory system for GM foods and crops in that country. The report declared that it is
"scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GM foods are safe without rigorous scientific testing and
that the "default prediction" for every GM food should be that the introduction of a new gene will cause
"unanticipated changes" in the expression of other genes, the pattern of proteins produced, and/or
metabolic activities. Possible outcomes of these changes identified in the report included the presence
of new or unexpected allergens.

A report by the British Medical Association concluded that with regard to the long-term effects of GM
foods on human health and the environment, "many unanswered questions remain" and that "safety
concerns cannot, as yet, be dismissed completely on the basis of information currently available". The
report called for more research, especially on potential impacts on human health and the environment.

Moreover, the positions taken by other organizations have frequently been highly qualified,
acknowledging data gaps and potential risks, as well as potential benefits, of GM technology. For
example, a statement by the American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public Health
acknowledged "a small potential for adverse events ... due mainly to horizontal gene transfer,
allergenicity, and toxicity" and recommended that the current voluntary notification procedure practised
in the US prior to market release of GM crops be made mandatory. It should be noted that even a
"small potential for adverse events" may turn out to be significant, given the widespread exposure of
human and animal populations to GM crops.

A statement by the board of directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) affirming the safety of GM crops and opposing labelling cannot be assumed to represent the
view of AAAS members as a whole and was challenged in an open letter by a group of 21 scientists,
including many long-standing members of the AAAS. This episode underlined the lack of consensus
among scientists about GMO safety.

4. EU research project does not provide reliable evidence of GM food safety

An EU research project has been cited internationally as providing evidence for GM crop and food
safety. However, the report based on this project, "A Decade of EU-Funded GMO Research", presents
no data that could provide such evidence, from long-term feeding studies in animals.

Indeed, the project was not designed to test the safety of any single GM food, but to focus on "the
development of safety assessment approaches". Only five published animal feeding studies are
referenced in the SAFOTEST section of the report, which is dedicated to GM food safety. None of
these studies tested a commercialised GM food; none tested the GM food for long-term effects beyond
the subchronic period of 90 days; all found differences in the GM-fed animals, which in some cases
were statistically significant; and none concluded on the safety of the GM food tested, let alone on the
safety of GM foods in general. Therefore the EU research project provides no evidence for sweeping
claims about the safety of any single GM food or of GM crops in general.

5. List of several hundred studies does not show GM food safety

A frequently cited claim published on an Internet website that several hundred studies "document the
general safety and nutritional wholesomeness of GM foods and feeds" is misleading. Examination of
the studies listed reveals that many do not provide evidence of GM food safety and, in fact, some
provide evidence of a lack of safety. For example:

Many of the studies are not toxicological animal feeding studies of the type that can provide
useful information about health effects of GM food consumption. The list includes animal
production studies that examine parameters of interest to the food and agriculture industry, such
as milk yield and weight gain; studies on environmental effects of GM crops; and analytical
studies of the composition or genetic makeup of the crop.

Among the animal feeding studies and reviews of such studies in the list, a substantial number
found toxic effects and signs of toxicity in GM-fed animals compared with controls. Concerns
raised by these studies have not been satisfactorily addressed and the claim that the body of
research shows a consensus over the safety of GM crops and foods is false and irresponsible.

Many of the studies were conducted over short periods compared with the animal's total lifespan
and cannot detect long-term health effects.

We conclude that these studies, taken as a whole, are misrepresented on the Internet website as they
do not "document the general safety and nutritional wholesomeness of GM foods and feeds". Rather,
some of the studies give serious cause for concern and should be followed up by more detailed
investigations over an extended period of time.

6. There is no consensus on the environmental risks of GM crops

Environmental risks posed by GM crops include the effects of Bt insecticidal crops on non-target
organisms and effects of the herbicides used in tandem with herbicide-tolerant GM crops.

As with GM food safety, no scientific consensus exists regarding the environmental risks of GM crops.
A review of environmental risk assessment approaches for GM crops identified shortcomings in the
procedures used and found "no consensus" globally on the methodologies that should be applied, let
alone on standardized testing procedures.

Some reviews of the published data on Bt crops have found that they can have adverse effects on non-
target and beneficial organisms - effects that are widely neglected in regulatory assessments and by
some scientific commentators. Resistance to Bt toxins has emerged in target pests, and problems with
secondary (non-target) pests have been noted, for example, in Bt cotton in China.

Herbicide-tolerant GM crops have proved equally controversial. Some reviews and individual studies
have associated them with increased herbicide use, the rapid spread of herbicide-resistant weeds, and
adverse health effects in human and animal populations exposed to Roundup, the herbicide used on
the majority of GM crops.

As with GM food safety, disagreement among scientists on the environmental risks of GM crops may
be correlated with funding sources. A peer-reviewed survey of the views of 62 life scientists on the
environmental risks of GM crops found that funding and disciplinary training had a significant effect on
attitudes. Scientists with industry funding and/or those trained in molecular biology were very likely to
have a positive attitude to GM crops and to hold that they do not represent any unique risks, while
publicly-funded scientists working independently of GM crop developer companies and/or those trained
in ecology were more likely to hold a "moderately negative" attitude to GM crop safety and to
emphasize the uncertainty and ignorance involved. The review authors concluded, "The strong effects
of training and funding might justify certain institutional changes concerning how we organize science
and how we make public decisions when new technologies are to be evaluated."

7. International agreements show widespread recognition of risks posed by GM foods and

crops

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was negotiated over many years and implemented in 2003. The
Cartagena Protocol is an international agreement ratified by 166 governments worldwide that seeks to
protect biological diversity from the risks posed by GM technology. It embodies the Precautionary
Principle in that it allows signatory states to take precautionary measures to protect themselves against
threats of damage from GM crops and foods, even in case of a lack of scientific certainty.

Another international body, the UN's Codex Alimentarius, worked with scientific experts for seven years
to develop international guidelines for the assessment of GM foods and crops, because of concerns
about the risks they pose. These guidelines were adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, of
which over 160 nations are members, including major GM crop producers such as the United States.

The Cartagena Protocol and Codex share a precautionary approach to GM crops and foods, in that
they agree that genetic engineering differs from conventional breeding and that safety assessments
should be required before GM organisms are used in food or released into the environment.

These agreements would never have been negotiated, and the implementation processes elaborating
how such safety assessments should be conducted would not currently be happening, without
widespread international recognition of the risks posed by GM crops and foods and the unresolved
state of existing scientific understanding.

Concerns about risks are well-founded, as has been demonstrated by studies on some GM crops and
foods that have shown adverse effects on animal health and non-target organisms, indicated above.
Many of these studies have, in fact, fed into the negotiation and/or implementation processes of the
Cartagena Protocol and Codex. We support the application of the Precautionary Principle with regard
to the release and transboundary movement of GM crops and foods.

Conclusion

In the scope of this document, we can only highlight a few examples to illustrate that the totality of
scientific research outcomes in the field of GM crop safety is nuanced, complex, often contradictory or
inconclusive, confounded by researchers' choices, assumptions, and funding sources, and in general,
has raised more questions than it has currently answered.

Whether to continue and expand the introduction of GM crops and foods into the human food and
animal feed supply, and whether the identified risks are acceptable or not, are decisions that involve
 socioeconomic considerations beyond the scope of a narrow scientific debate and the currently
unresolved biosafety research agendas. These decisions must therefore involve the broader society.
They should, however, be supported by strong scientific evidence on the long-term safety of GM crops
and foods for human and animal health and the environment, oBtained in a manner that is honest,
ethical, rigorous, independent, transparent, and sufficiently diversified to compensate for bias.

Decisions on the future of our food and agriculture should not be based on misleading and
misrepresentative claims that a "scientific consensus" exists on GMO safety.123

One of the most serious concerns raised against GM crops is that expressed by one of our political analysts
now serving in Congress, viz:

x x x patented GMO seeds concentrate power in the hands of a few biotech corporations and
marginalize small farmers. As the statement x x x of the 81 members of the World Future Council
put it, "While profitable to the few companies producing them, GMO seeds reinforce a model of
farming that undermines sustainability of cash-poor farmers, who make up most of the world's
hungry. GMO seeds continue farmers' dependency on purchased seed and chemical inputs. The
most dramatic impact of such dependency is in India, where 270,000 farmers, many trapped in deBt
for buying seeds and chemicals, committed suicide between 1995 and 2012."124

In sum, current scientific research indicates that the biotech industry has not sufficiently addressed the
uncertainties over the safety of GM foods and crops.

Bt Brinjal Controversy in India

Brinjal (eggplant) is a major crop and a popular component of food diet in India, an important ingredient in
Ayurvedic medicine, and is of special value for the treatment of diabetes and liver problems. The attempted
commercial propagation of Bt brinjal spawned intense debate and suffered obstacles due to sustained opposition
from local scientists, academicians and non-government organizations in India.

As in the case of the Philippines, proponents of Bt brinjal in India, believed to be the origin of eggplant's
diversity, said that if the new technology is adopted, decrease in the use of insecticides, substantial increase in crop
yields and greater food availability, can be expected. But opponents argued, alongside food safety concerns, that
there is a potential for toxic effects on populations of non-target invertebrates, and potential replacement of
traditional landraces as farmers may move towards cultivation of a restricted number of GE forms. In addition to
these issues, there was the additional concern raised over the transfer of Bt transgenes to non-GE brinjal or its wild
relatives, and the consequences for plant biodiversity.125

Writ petitions were lodged before the Supreme Court of India to stop the release into the environment of Bt
brinjal (Aruna Rodrigues and Ors, etc. vs. Union of India). The Court formed a Technical Evaluation Committee
(TEC) composed of experts nominated by the parties to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility of
allowing the open field trials of Bt brinjal and submit a final report, and in the event the TEC is unable to submit said
final report, it was directed instead to submit an interim report within the period set by the Court on the following
issue: "Whether there should or should not be any ban, partial or otherwise, upon conducting of open field tests of
the GMOs? In the event open field trials are permitted, what protocol should be followed and conditions, if any, that
may be imposed by the Court for implementation of open field trials." The Court also directed that the TEC would be
free to review report or studies authored by national and international scientists if it was necessary.

In its Interim Report dated October 17, 2012, the TEC recommended that, in view of its findings, all field trials
should be stopped until certain conditions have been met. A Final Report126 was eventually submitted to the Court
which noted weaknesses in the conditions imposed by the regulatory agencies for conduct of field trials, as follows:
1) post-release monitoring, an important aspect of environmental and health safety (if the GE crop is consumed as
food) is not given adequate attention; 2) the importance of need and socio-economic impact assessment of GM
products as one of the criteria that should be applied in the evaluation at an early stage; and 3) need for additional
tests not currently done such as long-term feeding studies for assessment of chronic and intergeneration toxicity in
small animals, genomewide expression analysis in the toxicity studies to screen for possible unintended effects on
host physiology. It was recommended that a moratorium on field trials of herbicide tolerant crops until the issue had
been examined by an independent committee, and also noted that said technology may not be suitable in the Indian
socio-economic context due to possible impact of extensive use of broad spectrum herbicides on the environmental
biodiversity and smaller average farm size. Examination of the safety dossier of Bt brinjalindicated certain concerns
on the data, which had not been addressed in the course of regulatory testing leading to approval due to lack of full-
time qualified personnel for the purpose. Overall, it was found that the quality of information in several of the
applications is far below what would be expected and required for rigorous evaluation by a regulatory body and is
unlikely to meet international regulatory guidelines.

On the mechanism of CrylAc proteins, the TEC cited studies showing that it is possible under certain conditions
for CrylAc protein to kill insects that lack the cadherin receptor. Also, while it is generally believed that Cry toxins do
not exert an effect on vertebrates as vertebrates lack the receptor for Cry toxins, two studies (one in mice and the
other in cows) have provided evidence that Cry proteins can bind to mammalian intestinal epithelial cells. The report
also discussed the emergence of resistance in insect pests, health and food safety of Bt transgenics, and herbicide
tolerant crops and their effect on biodiversity and the environment. Specific recommendations were made to
address the foregoing issues and the report concluded that:

The release of a GM crop into its area of origin or diversity has far greater ramifications and
potential for negative impact than for other species. To justify this, there needs to be extraordinarily
compelling reasons and only when other choices are not available. GM crops that offer incremental
advantages or solutions to specific and limited problems are not sufficient reasons to justify such
release. The TEC did not find any such compelling reasons under the present conditions. The fact is
that unlike the situation in 1960s there is no desperate shortage of food and in fact India is in a
reasonably secure position. The TEC therefore recommends that release of GM crops for which
India is a centre of origin or diversity should not be allowed.127

In 2010, responding to large-scale opposition to Bt brinjal's introduction in India, former environment minister
Jairam Ramesh placed an indefinite moratorium on its further field testing. This was done after discussions with
scientists, both pro and anti-GM crops, activists and farmers across the country.

GMO Field Trials in the Philippines

As earlier mentioned, the conduct of field trials for GE plants and crops in our country is governed primarily by
DAO 08-2002 and implemented by the DA through the BPI. Petitioners EMB, BPI and FPA all maintain there was no
unlawful deviation from its provisions and that respondents so far failed to present evidence to prove their claim
that Bt talong field trials violated environmental laws and rules.

Within the DA-BPI, it is the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) which, as an advisory body, was
tasked to "evaluate the potential risks of the proposed activity to human health and the environment based on
available scientific and technical information." Under DA Special Order 241 and 384 (2002) the STRP membership
was expanded to include "an independent pool of experts ... tapped by the [BPI] to evaluate the potential risks of the
proposed release of GMOs for field testing, propagation, food, feed to human health and the environment based on
available scientific and technical information."

DAO 08-2002 supplements the existing guidelines on the importation and release into the environment of
products of modern biotechnology by institutionalizing existing operational arrangements between DA-BPI and the
NCBP. Effective July 2003, applications for field test are received and processed by DA-BPI, but the approval
process for projects on contained use remains under the supervision of NCBP. A mandatory risk assessment of GM
plant and plant products is required prior to importation or release into the environment. Experiments must first be
conducted under contained conditions, then the products are tested in field trials the product is reviewed for
commercial release. Risk assessment is done according to the principles provided for by the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety. Risk assessment is science-based, carried out on a case by case manner, targets a specific crop and its
transformation event, adopts the concept of substantial equivalence in identifying risk, allows review, and provides
that the absence of scientific information or consensus should not be interpreted to indicate the absence or
presence and level of risk.128

Greenpeace, however, claims there is actually only a committee of three to five members which conducts the
risk assessment, and is aided by an informal group, the DA's Biotech Advisory Team (BAT), of representatives from
government biotech regulatory agencies: BPI, BAI, FPA, DENR, DOH and DOST. It also assails the government
regulatory agencies for their refusal to open to scrutiny the names and qualifications of those incharge of regulation
and risk assessment, and for allowing the entry and use of all GMO applications requested by multinational
companies.129

It must be stressed that DAO 08-2002 and related DA orders are not the only legal bases for regulating field
trials of GM plants and plant products. EO 514130 establishing the National Biosafety Framework (NBF) clearly
provides that the NBF shall apply to the development, adoption and implementation of all biosafety policies,
measures and guidelines and in making biosafety decisions concerning the research, development, handling and
use, transboundary movement, release into the environment and management of regulated articles.131 The objective
of the NBF is to "[e]nhance the decision-making system on the application of products of modern biotechnology to
make it more efficient, predictable, effective, balanced, culturally appropriate, ethical, transparent and
participatory".132 Thus, "the socio-economic, ethical, and cultural benefit and risks of modern biotechnology to the
Philippines and its citizens, and in particular on small farmers, indigenous peoples, women, small and medium
enterprises and the domestic scientific community, shall be taken into account in implementing the NBF."133 The
NBF also mandates that decisions shall be arrived at in a transparent and participatory manner, recognizing that
biosafety issues are best handled with the participation of all relevant stakeholders and organizations who shall
have appropriate access to information and the opportunity to participate responsibly and in an accountable manner
in biosafety decision-making process.134
 Most important, the NBF requires the use of precaution, as provided in Section 2.6 which reads:

2.6 Using Precaution. - In accordance with Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration of 1992 and the
relevant provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in particular Articles 1, 10 (par. 6) and 11
(par. 8), the precautionary approach shall guide biosafety decisions. The principles and elements of
this approach are hereby implemented through the decision-making system in the NBF;

The NBF contains general principles and minimum guidelines that the concerned agencies are expected to
follow and which their respective rules and regulations must conform with. In cases of conflict in applying the
principles, the principle of protecting public interest and welfare shall always prevail, and no provision of the NBF
shall be construed as to limit the legal authority and mandate of heads of departments and agencies to consider the
national interest and public welfare in making biosafety decisions.135

As to the conduct of risk assessment to identify and evaluate the risks to human health and the environment,
these shall be guided by the following:

5.2.1 Principles of Risk Assessment. - The following principles shall be followed when
performing a RA to determine whether a regulated article poses significant risks to human health and
the environment:

5.2.1.1 The RA shall be carried out in a scientifically sound and transparent manner
based on available scientific and technical information. The expert advice of and
guidelines developed by, relevant international organizations, including
intergovernmental bodies, and regulatory authorities of countries with
significant experience in the regulatory supervision of the regulated article
shall be taken into account in the conduct of risk assessment;

5.2.1.2 Lack of scientific knowledge or scientific consensus shall not be

interpreted as indicating a particular level of risk, an absence of risk, or an
acceptable risk;

5.2.1.3 The identified characteristics of a regulated article and its use which have the
potential to pose significant risks to human health and the environment shall be
compared to those presented by the non-modified organism from which it is
derived and its use under the same conditions;

5.2.1.4 The RA shall be carried out case-by-case and on the basis of transformation
event. The required information may vary in nature and level of detail from case to
case depending on the regulated article concerned, its intended use and the
receiving environment; and,

5.2.1.5 If new information on the regulated article and its effects on human health and
the environment becomes available, and such information is relevant and
significant, the RA shall be readdressed to determine whether the risk has changed
or whether there is a need to amend the risk management strategies accordingly.

5.2.2 Risk Assessment Guidelines. - The conduct of RA by concerned departments and agencies
shall be in accordance with the policies and standards on RA issued by the NCBP. Annex III of the
Cartagena Protocol shall also guide RA. As appropriate, such department and agencies may issue their
own respective administrative issuances establishing the appropriate RA under their particular
jurisdictions.

5.3 Role of Environmental Impact Assessment. - The application of the EIA System to biosafety
decisions shall be determined by concerned departments and agencies subject to the
requirements of law and the standards set by the NCBP. Where applicable and under the
coordination of the NCBP, concerned departments and agencies shall issue joint guidelines on the
matter. (Emphasis supplied)

Considering the above minimum requirements under the most comprehensive national biosafety regulation to
date, compliance by the petitioners with DAO 08-2002 is not sufficient. Notably, Section 7 of the NBF mandates a
more transparent, meaningful and participatory public consultation on the conduct of field trials beyond the posting
and publication of notices and information sheets, consultations with some residents and government officials, and
submission of written comments, provided in DAO 08-2002.

SECTION 7. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

 The concerned government departments and agencies, in developing and adopting biosafety policies,
guidelines and measures and in making biosafety decisions, shall promote, facilitate, and conduct
public awareness, education, meaningful, responsible and accountable participation. They shall
incorporate into their respective administrative issuances and processes best practices and
mechanisms on public participation in accordance with the following guidelines:

7.1 Scope of Public Participation. - Public participation shall apply to all stages of the biosafety
decision-making process from the time the application is received. For applications on
biotechnology activities related to research and development, limited primarily for contained use, notice
of the filing of such application with the NCBP shall be sufficient, unless the NCBP deems that public
interest and welfare requires otherwise.

7.2 Minimum Requirements of Public Participation. - In conducting public participation

processes, the following minimum requirements shall be followed:

7.2.1 Notice to all concerned stakeholders, in a language understood by them and through
media to which they have access. Such notice must be adequate, timely, and effective and
posted prominently in public places in the areas affected, and in the case of commercial
releases, in the national print media; in all cases, such notices must be posted electronically in
the internet;

7.2.2 Adequate and reasonable time frames for public participation procedures. Such
procedures should allow relevant stakeholders to understand and analyze the benefits and risks,
consult with independent experts, and make timely interventions. Concerned departments and
agencies shall include in their appropriate rules and regulations specific time frames for their
respective public participation processes, including setting a minimum time frame as may be
appropriate;

7.2.3 Public consultations, as a way to secure wide input into the decisions that are to be
made. These could include formal hearings in certain cases, or solicitation of public comments,
particularly where there is public controversy about the proposed activities. Public consultations
shall encourage exchanges of information between applicants and the public before the
application is acted upon. Dialogue and consensus-building among all stakeholders shall be
encouraged. Concerned departments and agencies shall specify in their appropriate rules and
regulations the stages when public consultations are appropriate, the specific time frames for
such consultations, and the circumstances when formal hearings will be required, including
guidelines to ensure orderly proceedings. The networks of agricultural and fisheries
councils, indigenous peoples and community-based organizations in affected areas shall
be utilized;

7.2.4 Written submissions. Procedures for public participation shall include mechanisms
that allow public participation in writing or through public hearings, as appropriate, and
which allow the submission of any positions, comments, information, analyses or
opinions. Concerned departments and agencies shall include in their appropriate rules and
regulations the stages when and the process to be followed for submitting written comments;
and,

7.2.5 Consideration of public concerns in the decision-making phase following consultation

and submission of written comments. Public concerns as reflected through the procedures for
public participation shall be considered in making the decision. The public shall be informed of
the final decision promptly, have access to the decision, and shall be provided with the reasons
and considerations resulting in the decision, upon request.

We find that petitioners simply adhered to the procedures laid down by DAO 08-2002 and no real effort was
made to operationalize the principles of the NBF in the conduct of field testing of Bt talong. The failure of DAO 08-
2002 to accommodate the NBF means that the Department of Agriculture lacks mechanisms to mandate applicants
to comply with international biosafety protocols. Greenpeace's claim that BPI had approved nearly all of the
applications for GMO field trials is confirmed by the data posted on their website. For these reasons, the DAO 08-
2002 should be declared invalid.

Significantly, while petitioners repeatedly argued that the subject field trials are not covered by the EIS law, EO
514 clearly mandates that concerned departments and agencies, most particularly petitioners DENR-EMB, BPI and
FPA, make a determination whether the EIS system should apply to the release of GMOs into the environment and
issue joint guidelines on the matter.

The Philippine EIS System (PEISS) is concerned primarily with assessing the direct and indirect impacts of a
project on the biophysical and human environment and ensuring that these impacts are addressed by appropriate
environmental protection and enhancement measures. It "aids proponents in incorporating environmental
considerations in planning their projects as well as in determining the environment's impact on their project." There
are six stages in the regular EIA process. The proponent initiates the first three stages while the EMB takes the lead
in the last three stages. Public participation is enlisted in most stages.136

Even without the issuance of EO 514, GMO field testing should have at least been considered for EIA under
existing regulations of petitioner EMB on new and emerging technologies, to wit:

g) Group V (Unclassified Projects): These are the projects not listed in any of the groups,
e.g. projects using new processes/technologies with uncertain impacts. This is an interim
category - unclassified projects will eventually be classified into their appropriate groups after EMB
evaluation.137 (Emphasis supplied)

All government agencies as well as private corporations, firms and entities who intend to undertake activities or
projects which will affect the quality of the environment are required to prepare a detailed Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) prior to undertaking such development activity.138 An environmentally critical project (ECP) is
considered by the EMB as "likely to have significant adverse impact that may be sensitive, irreversible and diverse"
and which "include activities that have significant environmental consequences."139 In this context, and given the
overwhelming scientific attention worldwide on the potential hazards of GMOs to human health and the
environment, their release into the environment through field testing would definitely fall under the category of ECP.

During the hearing at the CA, Arty. Segui of the EMB was evasive in answering questions on whether his office
undertook the necessary evaluation on the possible environmental impact of Bt talong field trials subject of this case
and the release of GMOs into the environment in general. While he initially cited lack of budget and competence as
reasons for their inaction, he later said that an amendment of the law should be made since projects involving
GMOs are not covered by Proclamation No. 2146140. Pertinent portions of his testimony before the CA are herein
quoted:

xxxx

ATTY. SORIANO:

Let us go back Mr. Witness to your answer in Question No. 5 regarding the list under
the PEISS law. Granting Mr. Witness that a certain project or undertaking is not
classified as environmentally critical project, how would you know that
the Bt talong field testing is not located in an environmentally critical area this time?

ATTY. ACANTILADO:

Objection Your Honor, argumentative.

HON. J. DICDICAN:

Witness may answer.

ATTY. SEGUI:

As far as my recollection can serve me, in a reading of the Petition itself, somewhere
along the Petition, petitioners never alleged that the project, the subject matter rather
of this instant petition, is within an environmentally critical project.

ATTY. SORIANO:

Your Honor the Witness did not answer the question.

HON. J. DICDICAN:

Please answer the question.

ATTY. SEGUI:

Personally I have conferred with our personnel from the Environmental Impact
Assessment Division and they intimated to me that the locations of the project, rather
of this subject matter of the instant petition, not within any declared environmentally
critical area.

HON. J. BARRIOS:
 In other words, you are aware of the area where the Bt talong experiments are being
conducted. Is that the premise?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Judging from previous discussions we had ... judging from the Petition, and showing it
to the as I said personnel from Environmental Impact Division at our office, as I said
they intimated to me that it's not within declared environmentally critical area.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

That being the case, you did not act further? [You] did not make any further
evaluation, on whether the activity has an environmental impact? Is that the
correct premise?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Well Your Honors I may be the Chief of the Legal Division of the EMB, I handle more of
the legal aspects of the Bureau's affairs. But when it comes to highly technical matters,
I have to rely on our technical people especially on environmentally impact assessment
matters.

ATTY. SORIANO:

I will just ask him another question Your Honors. So did the Department of Agriculture
Mr. Witness coordinate with your Office with regard the field testing of Bt talong?

ATTY. SEGUI:

I'm sorry Your Honors I am not privy to that personally.

ATTY. SORIANO:

Mr. Witness, the question is did the Department of Agriculture coordinate with your
Office with regard the field testing of Bt talong as required under the law?

ATTY. SORIANO:

Already answered your Honor, objection.

HON. J. DICDICAN:

The witness in effect said he does not know, he's not in a position to answer.

xxxx

ATTY. SORIANO:

Did the EMB Mr. Witness perform such evaluation in the case of Bt talong field testing?

ATTY. ACANTILADO:

Your Honor that is speculative, the witness has just answered a while ago that the EMB
has not yet received any project with respect to that Your Honor. So the witness would
not be in a position to answer that Your Honors.

HON. J. DICDICAN:

Lay the basis first.

ATTY. SORIANO:

The earlier answer Your Honor of the witness is in general terms. My second question,
my follow-up question is specifically Your Honor the Bt talong field testing.

ATTY. SEGUI:

Well from where I sit Your Honors, it would appear that it could be categorized as
unclassified...
HON. J. VALENZUELA:

Unclassified?

ATTY. SEGUI:

As the section will initially provide. But there must be prior ... may I continue to harp on
that Your Honors. There must be prior ... let's say conditions ... there must be prior
evaluation and assessment just the same by the EMB.

HON. J. VALENZUELA:

Prior to what Mr. Witness?

ATTY. SEGUI:

We will categorize it as unclassified but there must be ... (interrupted)

HON. J. VALENZUELA:

So initially you call it unclassified and then you say prior to...

ATTY. SEGUI:

I'm sorry Your Honors, may I reform.

HON. J. VALENZUELA:

Yes please.

ATTY. SEGUI:

Initially they will be considered/categorized as unclassified but there will be hopefully a

subsequent evaluation or assessment of the matter to see if we also have the
resources and expertise if it can be finally unclassified. I should say should fall within
the fairview of the system, the EIA system. In other words, it's in a sort of how do you
say that it's in a state of limbo. So it's unclassified, that's the most we can do in the
meantime.

HON. J. VALENZUELA:

And Mr. Witness you also said that the agency the EMB is without the capability to
evaluate the projects such as this one in particular?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Yes, Your Honors as of now.

HON. J. VALENZUELA:

So therefore, when you say initially it's unclassified and then you're saying
afterwards the EMB needs evaluation but then you're saying the EMB is without
any capability to evaluate then what happens?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Well Your Honors, I did not draft the regulation myself. As the Chief of the Legal of the
EMB that's how we interpret it. But the truth of the matter is with all pragmatism
we don't have the resources as of now and expertise to do just that.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

So in other words you admit that the EMB is without any competence to make a
categorical or initial examination of this uncategorized activity, is that what you
mean?

ATTY. SEGUI:

It would appear, yes.

 HON. J. BARRIOS:

What do you think would prompt your office to make such initial examination?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Well executive fee at the usual dictates ... the Secretary of the DENR probably even by
request of the parties concerned.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

So that means you are waiting for a request? Are you not? Pro­active in this activity in
performing your obligations and duties?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Well Your Honors, the national budget if I may ... I attend budget hearings myself. The
budget for the environment is hardly ... the ratio is ... if we want to protect indeed
the environment as we profess, with all due respect if Congress speaks
otherwise.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

May I interrupt, can we go into specifics. From what I have read so far, under No. 2 of
your Judicial Affidavit, [you] are saying that the EMB is tasked in advising the DENR on
matters related to environmental management, conservation and pollution control,
right?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Yes.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

Thereafter you stated that you are tasked mainly with PD 1586 which refers to
Environmental Critical Areas of Projects and more specifically focused on Proclamation
No. 2146. With respect to this Bt talong, you mentioned that this is at first is
uncategorized, it's not within?

ATTY. SEGUI:

It's not within Proclamation 2146 Your Honor.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

But you did mention that under the rules and regulations, even in an uncategorized
activity, pertaining to the environment, your Office has the mandate and then you later
say that your Office is without competence, do I follow your line of standing?

ATTY. SEGUI:

Yes, precisely it will be categorized as per section 7 as unclassified because it doesn't

fall as of now within Proclamation 2146.

HON. J. BARRIOS:

Yes, but under the implementing rules your Office has the mandate to act on other
unclassified activities and you answered that your Office has no competence.

ATTY. SEGUI:

Proclamation 2146 executed by then Pres. Marcos, the IRR pointed to was executed
by I believe the Secretary of DENR. We need an amendment of 2146.141 (Emphasis
supplied)

The foregoing stance of the EMB's Chief of the Legal Division is an indication of the DENR-EMB's lack of
serious attention to their mandate under the law in the implementation of the NBF, as provided in the following
sections of EO 514:
 4.9 Mandate of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. - As the primary
government agency responsible for the conservation, management, development and proper use of the
country's environment and natural resources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) shall ensure that environmental assessments are done and impacts identified in
biosafety decisions. It shall also take the lead in evaluating and monitoring regulated articles intended
for bioremediation, the improvement of forest genetic resources, and wildlife genetic resources.

xxxx

4.12 Focal Point and Competent National Authorities.

4.12.1 For purposes of Article 19 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the national focal point
responsible for liaison with the Secretariat shall be the Department of Foreign Affairs. The competent
national authorities, responsible for performing the administrative functions required by the Protocol,
shall be, depending on the particular genetically modified organisms in question, the following:

xxxx

4.12.1.4 The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, for biosafety decisions covered by
the Protocol that concern regulated organisms intended for bioremediation, the improvement of
forest genetic resources, and wildlife genetic resources, and applications of modern biotechnology
with potential impact on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. (Emphasis
supplied)

On the supposed absence of budget mentioned by Atty. Segui, EO 514 itself directed the concerned agencies to
ensure that there will be funding for the implementation of the NBF as it was intended to be a multi-disciplinary effort
involving the different government departments and agencies.

SEC. 6. Funding. - The DOST, DENR, DA, and DOH shall allocate funds from their present
budgets to implement the NBF, including support to the operations of the NCBP and its Secretariat.
Starting 2006 and thereafter, the funding requirements shall be included in the General
Appropriations Bill submitted by each of said departments to Congress.

These concerned departments shall enter into agreement on the sharing of financial and
technical resources to support the NCBP and its Secretariat.

All told, petitioners government agencies clearly failed to fulfil their mandates in the implementation of the NBF.

Application of the Precautionary Principle

The precautionary principle originated in Germany in the 1960s, expressing the normative idea that
governments are obligated to "foresee and forestall" harm to the environment. In the following decades, the
precautionary principle has served as the normative guideline for policymaking by many national governments.
[142] The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the outcome of the 1992 United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, defines the rights of the people to be involved in the
development of their economies, and the responsibilities of human beings to safeguard the common environment. It
states that the long term economic progress is only ensured if it is linked with the protection of the environment.
[143] For the first time, the precautionary approach was codified under Principle 15, which reads:

In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States
according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full
scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation.

Principle 15 codified for the first time at the global level the precautionary approach, which indicates that lack of
scientific certainty is no reason to postpone action to avoid potentially serious or irreversible harm to the
environment. It has been incorporated in various international legal instruments.[144] The Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, finalized and adopted in Montreal on January 29, 2000,
establishes an international regime primarily aimed at regulating trade in GMOs intended for release into the
environment, in accordance with Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The Protocol
thus provides:

Article

10

DECISION PROCEDURE
 xxxx

6. Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge regarding
the extent of the potential adverse effects of a living modified organism on the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity in the Party of import, taking also into account risks to human
health, shall not prevent that Party from taking a decision, as appropriate, with regard to the import of
the living modified organism in question as referred to in paragraph 3 above, in order to avoid or
minimize such potential adverse effects.

xxxx

Article

11

PROCEDURE FOR LIVING MODIFIED ORGANISMS INTENDED FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD OR
FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING

8. Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge regarding
the extent of the potential adverse effects of a living modified organism on the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity in the Party of import, taking also into account risks to human
health, shall not prevent that Party from taking a decision, as appropriate, with regard to the import of
that living modified organism intended for direct use as food or feed, or for processing, in order to avoid
or minimize such potential adverse effects.

xxxx

Annex III

RISK ASSESSMENT

General principles

xxxx

4. Lack of scientific knowledge or scientific consensus should not necessarily be interpreted as

indicating a particular level of risk, an absence of risk, or an acceptable risk.

The precautionary principle applies when the following conditions are met145:

there exist considerable scientific uncertainties;

there exist scenarios (or models) of possible harm that are scientifically reasonable (that is
based on some scientifically plausible reasoning);

uncertainties cannot be reduced in the short term without at the same time increasing ignorance
of other relevant factors by higher levels of abstraction and idealization;

the potential harm is sufficiently serious or even irreversible for present or future generations or
otherwise morally unacceptable;

there is a need to act now, since effective counteraction later will be made significantly more
difficult or costly at any later time.

The Rules likewise incorporated the principle in Part V, Rule 20, which states:

PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

SEC. 1. Applicability. - When there is a lack of full scientific certainty in establishing a causal link
between human activity and environmental effect, the court shall apply the precautionary principle in
resolving the case before it.

The constitutional right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology shall be given the benefit
of the douBt.

SEC. 2. Standards for application. - In applying the precautionary principle, the following factors,
among others, may be considered: (1) threats to human life or health; (2) inequity to present or future
generations; or (3) prejudice to the environment without legal consideration of the environmental rights
of those affected.
 Under this Rule, the precautionary principle finds direct application in the evaluation of evidence in cases before
the courts. The precautionary principle bridges the gap in cases where scientific certainty in factual findings cannot
be achieved. By applying the precautionary principle, the court may construe a set of facts as warranting either
judicial action or inaction, with the goal of preserving and protecting the environment. This may be further evinced
from the second paragraph where bias is created in favor of the constitutional right of the people to a balanced and
healthful ecology. In effect, the precautionary principle shifts the burden of evidence of harm away from those likely
to suffer harm and onto those desiring to change the status quo. An application of the precautionary principle to the
rules on evidence will enable courts to tackle future environmental problems before ironclad scientific consensus
emerges.146

For purposes of evidence, the precautionary principle should be treated as a principle of last resort, where
application of the regular Rules of Evidence would cause in an inequitable result for the environmental plaintiff — (a)
settings in which the risks of harm are uncertain; (b) settings in which harm might be irreversible and what is lost is
irreplaceable; and (c) settings in which the harm that might result would be serious. When these features
— uncertainty, the possibility of irreversible harm, and the possibility of serious harm — coincide, the case for
the precautionary principle is strongest. When in douBt, cases must be resolved in favor of the constitutional right to
a balanced and healthful ecology. Parenthetically, judicial adjudication is one of the strongest fora in which the
precautionary principle may find applicability.147

Assessing the evidence on record, as well as the current state of GMO research worldwide, the Court finds all
the three conditions present in this case - uncertainty, the possibility of irreversible harm and the possibility of
serious harm.

Eggplants (talong) are a staple vegetable in the country and grown by small-scale farmers, majority of whom are
poor and marginalized. While the goal of increasing crop yields to raise farm incomes is laudable, independent
scientific studies revealed uncertainties due to unfulfilled economic benefits from Bt crops and plants, adverse
effects on the environment associated with use of GE technology in agriculture, and serious health hazards from
consumption of GM foods. For a biodiversity-rich country like the Philippines, the natural and unforeseen
consequences of contamination and genetic pollution would be disastrous and irreversible.

Alongside the aforesaid uncertainties, the non-implementation of the NBF in the crucial stages of risk
assessment and public consultation, including the determination of the applicability of the EIS requirements to GMO
field testing, are compelling reasons for the application of the precautionary principle. There exists a preponderance
of evidence that the release of GMOs into the environment threatens to damage our ecosystems and not just the
field trial sites, and eventually the health of our people once the Bt eggplants are consumed as food. Adopting the
precautionary approach, the Court rules that the principles of the NBF need to be operationalized first by the
coordinated actions of the concerned departments and agencies before allowing the release into the environment of
genetically modified eggplant. The more prudent course is to immediately enjoin the Bt talong field trials and
approval for its propagation or commercialization until the said government offices shall have performed their
respective mandates to implement the NBF.

We have found the experience of India in the Bt brinjal field trials - for which an indefinite moratorium was
recommended by a Supreme Court-appointed committee till the government fixes regulatory and safety aspects - as
relevant because majority of Filipino farmers are also small-scale farmers. Further, the precautionary approach
entailed inputs from all stakeholders, including the marginalized farmers, not just the scientific community. This
proceeds from the realization that acceptance of uncertainty is not only a scientific issue, but is related to public
policy and involves an ethical dimension.148 For scientific research alone will not resolve all the problems, but
participation of different stakeholders from scientists to industry, NGOs, farmers and the public will provide a needed
variety of perspective foci, and knowledge.149

Finally, while the drafters of the NBF saw the need for a law to specifically address the concern for biosafety
arising from the use of modern biotechnology, which is deemed necessary to provide more permanent rules,
institutions, and funding to adequately deal with this challenge,150 the matter is within the exclusive prerogative of
the legislative branch.

WHEREFORE, the petitions are DENIED. The Decision dated May 17, 2013 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R.
SP No. 00013 is hereby MODIFIED, as follows:

1. The conduct of the assailed field testing for Bt talong is hereby PERMANENTLY ENJOINED;

2. Department of Agriculture Administrative Order No. 08, series of 2002 is declared NULL AND VOID; and

3. Consequently, any application for contained use, field testing, propagation and commercialization, and
importation of genetically modified organisms is TEMPORARILY ENJOINED until a new administrative order is
promulgated in accordance with law.

No pronouncement as to costs.
 SO ORDERED.

Sereno, C. J., Leonardo-De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Del Castillo, Perez, Mendoza, Reyes, and Perlas-Bernabe,
JJ., concur.

Carpio, J., no part prior inhibition.

Velasco, Jr., J., pls. see Concurring Opinion.

Brion, J., on official leave.

Leonen, J., see separate concurring opinion.

Jardeleza, J., no part.

NOTICE OF JUDGMENT

Sirs/Mesdames:

Please take notice that on December 8, 2015 a Decision/Resolution, copy attached herewith, was rendered by
the Supreme Court in the above-entitled case, the original of which was received by this Office on December 16,
2015 at 8:40 a.m.

Very truly yours,

(SGD)FELIPA G. BORLONGAN-ANAMA

Clerk of Court

Footnotes
1
Rollo (G.R. No. 209271), pp. 135-159. Penned by Associate Justice Isaias P. Dicdican with Associate
Justices Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez and Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela concurring.
2
Id. at 161-174.
3
CA rollo (Vol. VI), Annex "O" of Biotech Petition.
4
(visited last November 7, 2014).
5
UPLBFI, "History" (visited last November 7, 2014).
6
"AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES AS THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY."
7
RA 9500, Sec. 3(c).
8
Susan R. Barnum, Biotechnology: An Introduction by 1 (1998).
9
University of the Philippines Los Baños National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, "About
Us" (visited last November 7, 2014).
10
The Center for Media and Democracy, "GMOs in the Philippines" , (visited last November 7, 2014).
11
Id. (See also CA rollo, pp. 882-884).
12
EO 514, Sec. 2.1.
13
Id., Sec. 8.
14
CA rollo (Vol. I), pp. 82-84.
15
Id. at 85-86.
16
CA rollo (Vol. II), pp. 885-886.
17
Id. at 1058-1064.
18
CA rollo (Vol. I), pp. 67-69.
18-a] Id. at 400.

19
A.M. No. 09-6-8-SC (2010).
20
CA rollo (Vol. III), p. 2026.
21
Id. at 2120-2123. UPLB was not served with the writ of kalikasan issued by this Court nor furnished with
copy of the petition of Greenpeace, et al. Its Answer, adopting the arguments and allegations in the verified
return filed by UPLBFI, was filed in the CA. See CA Resolution dated August 17, 2012, id. at 2117-2119.
22
Id. at 2100.
23
Id. at 2312-2324.
24
CA rollo (Vol. IV), pp. 2450-2460.
25
Id. at 2864-2871.
26
Rollo (G.R. No. 209271), Vol. 1, pp. 157-158.
27
SECTION 1. Applicability. - When there is lack of full scientific certainty in establishing a causal link
between human activity and environmental effect, the court shall apply the precautionary principle in resolving
the case before it.

The constitutional right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology shall be given the benefit of the
douBt.
28
Rollo (GR. No. 209271), Vol. I, pp. 168-170.
29
Id. at 35-37.
30
Id. at 81.
31
Rollo (G.R. No. 209301), pp. 48-50, 53-55.
32
Rollo (G.R. No. 209271), Vol. IX, pp. 4111-4112. Citations omitted.
33
Id. at 4112-4115. Citations omitted.
34
Rollo (G.R. No. 209271), Vol. IX, p. 4115.
35
Id., Vol. XI, pp. 5715-5717.
36
Id. at 5835-5837.
37
Rollo (G.R. No. 209271), Vol. V, pp. 2386-2387.
38
Bayan Muna v. Romulo, G.R. No. 159618, February 1, 2011, 641 SCRA 244, 254, citing David v.
Macapagal-Arroyo, 522 Phil. 705, 755 (2006).
39
Id., citing Jumamil v. Cafe, 507 Phil. 455, 465 (2005).
40
Social Justice Society (SJS) v. Dangerous Drugs Board, et al., 591 Phil. 393, 404 (2008); Tatad v. Secretary
of the Department of Energy, 346 Phil. 321 (1997); and De Guia v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 104712, May 6,
1992, 208 SCRA 420, 422.
41
Kilosbayan Incorporated v. Guingona, Jr., G.R. No. 113375, May 5, 1994, 232 SCRA 110, 137.
42
G.R. No. 101083, July 30, 1993, 224 SCRA 792, 804-805.
43
Id. at 802-803.
44
Rule 2, Sec. 5 reads in part:
 SEC. 5. Citizen suit. - Any Filipino citizen in representation of others, including minors or
generations yet unborn, may file an action to enforce rights or obligations under
environmental laws. x x x
45
See Annotation on A.M. 09-6-8-SC.
46
Santiago v. Court of Appeals, 348 Phil. 792, 800 (1998).
47
Barbieto v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 184645, October 30, 2009, 604 SCRA 825, 840.
48
Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon v. Francisco, Sr., G.R. No. 172553, December 14, 2011, 662
SCRA 439,449, citing David v. Macapagal-Arroyo, supra note 38, at 754.
49
546 Phil. 87, 96-98 (2007).
50
See Boracay Foundation, Inc. v. Province of Aklan, G.R. No. 196870, June 26, 2012, 674 SCRA 555, 608.
51
George Acquaah, Understanding Biotechnology: an integrated and cyber-based approach, (Pearson
Education, Inc., 2004) at 62, 64, 69 and 70.
52
Id. at 72.
53
Nancy Harris, Genetically Engineered Foods, (Greenhaven Press, 2004) at 5-6.
54
Id. at 7.
55
Sheweta Barak, Deepak Mudgil and B.S. Khatkar, "Genetically modified food: benefits, safety aspects and
concerns" Asian Journal of Food and Agro-Industry (visited last November 7, 2014).
56
Id. at 550.
57
Herbicide is defined as "a poisonous substance used to destroy unwanted plants." (Compact Oxford
English Dictionary 473 [3rd ed. 2005]).
58
Supra note 55, at 551-552.
59
Id. at 552-553.
60
Indur M. Goklany, "Applying the Precautionary Principle to Genetically Modified Crops" Policy Study
Number 157 (2000): 4-5, 8 and 10. Print.
61
Roberto Verzola, "Genetically Engineered Foods Have Health Risks" supra note 53, at 38-42.
62
Mae-Wan Ho, "Ban GMOs Now," Lecture by at conference on Traditional Seeds Our National Treasure and
Heritage - Traditional and Organic Agriculture. Bewelder, Warsaw, Poland, April 6, 2008. (visited last
December 4, 2014)
63
Anita Bakshi, "Potential Adverse Health Effects of Genetically Modified Crops" Journal of Toxicology and
Environmental Health B (2003) (visited last December 4, 2014).
64
Ken Roseboro, ed. "Arpad Pusztai and the Risks of Genetic Engineering" The Organic and Non-GMO
Report (June 2009) . (visited last December 6, 2014).
65
Verzola, supra note 61, at 40.
66
Barak, Mudgil and Khatkar, supra note 55, at 555.
67
Bakshi, supra note 63, at 217; Barak, Mudgil and Khatkar, id.
68
Verzola, supra note 61, at 40.
69
Hans R. Larsen, "Milk and the Cancer Connection" International Health News (April 1998) . (visited last
December 6, 2014).
70
Mercola, Monsanto's Roundup Herbicide May Be Most Important Factor In Development of Autism and
Other Chronic Diseases, . (visited last December 6, 2014).
71
Ben Lilliston, "Genetically Modified Organisms are Contaminating Organic Crops," reproduced with
permission in Genetically Engineered Foods, supra note 53, at 55.
72
Barak, Mudgil and Khatkar, supra note 55, at 555.
73
Id.
74
Andreas Bauer-Panskus, Sylvia Hamberger and Christoph Then, "Transgene escape - Global atlas of
uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered plants" Test Biotech . (visited last December 6, 2014).
75
"Contamination of Crops" . (visited last December 7, 2014).
76
Gene Watch UK, Fact Sheet No. 3 (Forage Maize), UK Farm Scale Trials with GM Crops-2000, . (visited
last December 7, 2014).
77
"Transgenic Crops: an Introduction and Resource Guide" .
78
"Biology of Brinjal" Btbiosafety.nic.in/guidelines/brinjal.pdf>.
79
Lilliston, supra note 71, at 54.
80
Testbiotech Report, supra note 74, at 7.

A landrace is defined as "a dynamic population(s) of a cultivated plant that has historical origin, distinct
identity and lacks formal crop improvement, as well as often being genetically diverse, locally adapted and
associated with traditional farming systems." Tania Carolina Camacho Villa, Nigel Maxted, Maria Scholten and
Brian Ford-Lloyd, "Defining and Identifying crop landraces," Characterization and Utilitzation Plant Genetic
Resources: Characterization and Utilization Vol. 3, Issue 3 (December 2005) .
81
Id. at 39.
82
.
83
Barak, Mudgil and Khatkar, supra note 55, at 555-556.
84
Z.H. Chen, L.J. Chen, Y.L. Zhang, Z.J. Wu, "Microbial properties, enzyme activities and the persistence of
exogenous proteins in soil under consecutive cultivation of transgenic cottons (Gossypium hirsutum
L.)" PLANT SOIL ENVIRON., 57, 2011 (2): 67-74 . (visited last December 6, 2014).
85
Biao Liu, Qing Zeng, Fengming Yan, Haigen Xu, and Chongren Xu, Review: Effects of Transgenic Plants
on Soil Microorganisms" . (visited last December 6, 2014).
86
E. Vinje, "Is Monsanto's Roundup Killing Our Soil?," Planet Natural . (visited last December 6, 2014) See
also Stephanie Strom, "Misgivings About How a Weed Killer Affects the Soil" The New York
Times (September 19, 2013) (visited last December 6, 2014).
87
R.A. Relyea, "The Lethal Impacts of Roundup and Predatory Stress on Six Species of North American
Tadpoles," Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology v. 48, n.3, (April 1, 2005). (visited last
December 6, 2014).
88
Mr. Neil J. Young QC, "Expert Witnesses: On the stand or in the hot tub - how, when and why? Formulating
the Question for Opinion and Cross-Examining the Experts" Commercial Court Seminar, Quezon City,
October 27, 2010.
89
CA rollo (Vol. V), pp. 3482-3488.
90
CA rollo (Vol. III), pp. 1834-1836.
91
Id. at 1940-1944.
92
CA rollo (Vol.I), pp. 164-165.
93
Id. at 329-332.
94
Id. at 2444-2445.
95
TSN, November 20, 2012, pp. 34-117; CA rollo (Vol. V), pp. 4511-4594.
96
Plotner, Becky, "Retracted Scientific Study On GMO Rats REPUBLISHED!!!!," Nourishing Plot (visited last
December 6, 2014); Plotner, Becky, "GMO Rat Study Forcibly Retracted," Nourishing Plot (visited last
December 6, 2014).
97
Id.; "Republication of the Seralini study: Science speaks for itself," (visited last December 6, 2014).
98
Anne Ingeborg Myrh and Terje Traavik, "The Precautionary Principle: Scientific Uncertainty and Omitted
Research in the Context of GMO Use and Release," (visited last December 6, 2014).
99
James Clive, 2013. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech GM Crops: 2013. ISAAA Brief No. 46. ISAAA:
Ithaca, NY.
100
Sonal Panse, "The Advantages & Disadvantages of Genetically Modified Food: Both Sides of the Debate,"
(visited last December 6, 2014).
101
Harry A. Kuiper, Gijs A. Kleter, Hub P.J.M. Noteborn and Esther J. Kok, "Assessment of the Food Safety
Issues Related to Genetically Modified Foods, .
102
Joint FAO/WHO Biotechnology and Food Safety Report, 1996, p. 4.
103
World Health Organization (WHO), "Safety Aspects of Genetically Modified Foods of Plant Origin," (visited
last December 6,2014).
104
Id. at 5.
105
Mae-Wan Ho and Ricarda A. Steinbrecher, "Fatal Flaws in Food Safety Assessment: Critique of The Joint
FAO/WHO Biotechnology and Food Safety Report," Accessed at (visited last December 6, 2014).
106
John Fagan, Ph.D., "The Failings of the Principle of Substantial Equivalence in Regulating Transgenic
Foods," (visited last December 6, 2014).
107
Marianna Schauzu, "The Concept of Substantial Equivalence in Safety Assessment of Foods Derived
From Genetically Modified Organisms" AgBiotech Net (April 2000) (visited last December 6, 2014.)
108
R.H. Phipps and J.R. Park, "Environmental Benefits of Genetically Modified Crops: Global and European
Perspectives on their Ability to Reduce Pesticide Use," Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences (January 31,
2002), (visited last December 6,2014).
109
.
110
Human Rights Advocates, "Promoting Right to Food Through Food Sovereignty," (visited last December 6,
2014).
111
.
112
Prof. Dr. Ludwig Kramer, "Genetically Modified Living Organisms and the Precautionary Principle," (visited
last December 7, 2014).
113
Ingeborg and Traavik, supra note 98, at 73, 80-81.
114
Marcelo Gortari, "GMOs, Risk and the Precautionary Principle," Public Policy & Governance Review (July
11, 2013) (visited last December 7, 2014).
115
"Open Letter from World Scientists to All Government Concerning Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMOs)," (visited last December 7, 2014).
116
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD),
"Agriculture at a Crossroads," (visited last December 7, 2014).
117
"The Case for a GM-Free Sustainable World - A Summary," (visited last December 7, 2014.).
118
Id.
119
Supra note 116.
120
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD),
"Biotechnology and Sustainable Development," (visited last December 7, 2014).
121
"No scientific consensus on safety of genetically modified organisms," (visited last December 7, 2014).
122
European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, "Statement: No scientific
consensus on GMO safety," (visited last December 7, 2014).
123
Citations omitted.
124
Walden Bello, "GMO Wars: The Global Battlefield," Foreign Policy in Focus and TheNation.com (October
28, 2013), (visited last December 9, 2014).
125
Dr. John Samuels, "Genetically engineered Bt brinjal and the implications for plant biodiversity - revisited,"
Bt-brinjal-revisited.pdf> (visited last December 9, 2014).
126
"CONFIDENTIAL: Final Report of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC)," (visited last December 9, 2014).
127
Id. at 81-82.
128
The National Biosafety Framework FOR the Philippines. Department of Environment and Natural
Resources-Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau 2004. Quezon City, Philippines.
129
Greenpeace, "Ties that bind: regulatory capture in the country's GMO approval process" (visited last
December 7, 2014).
130
Approved on March 17, 2006.
131
EO 514, Sec. 2.1.
132
Id., Sec. 2.2.2.
133
NBF, Sec. 2.5.
134
Id., Sec. 2.7.
135
Id. 2.13.
136
"The Role of Government Agencies in the Philippine Environmental Impact System: Under the Revised
Procedural Manual," (visited last December 9, 2014).
137
Section 7.g, Revised Procedural Manual for DAO 2003-30 on the Overview of the Philippine EISS
(PEISS).
138
RA 8550 (Philippine Fisheries Code), Sec. 12.
139
Overview of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process, 25 September 2013. Accessed at .
140
Proclaiming Certain Areas and Types of Projects as Environmentally Critical and Within the Scope of the
Environmental Impact Statement System Established Under Presidential Decree No. 1586. Issued December
14, 1981.
141
TSN, February 7, 2013, pp. 13-16, 18-20.
142
"GMOs, Risks and the Precautionary Principle" by Marcelo Gortari, supra note 114.
143
Principles 1, 2, 3 and 4. (visited last December 7, 2014).
144
The Global Development Resource Center, "The Rio Declaration: Principle 15 - The Precautionary
Approach," (visited last December 9, 2014).
145
"The Precautionary Principle," World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology
(COMEST). March 2005. .
146
ANNOTATION TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CASES.
147
Id.
148
Ingeborg Myhr and Traavik, supra note 98.
 149
Anne Ingeborg-Myhr and Terje Traavik, "Genetically Modified (GM) Crops: Precautionary Science and
Conflicts of Interests" (visited last December 9, 2014).
150
Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, "The National
Biosafety Framework for the Philippines," (visited last December 9, 2014).

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation