The Court of Appeals has ruled with finality against the government-sponsored field trials for “Bt talong,” or genetically modified eggplant, in the country.

The Court of Appeals denied the government's request to reconsider its ruling stopping the field trials of bacteria-resistant eggplant nationwide.

Non-government organizations supporting organic food and farms want local and national laws to ban genetically-modified crops such as the controversial Golden Rice for its detrimental effect to health and farmers’ income.

Farmers, scientists and advocates believe that golden rice is but a “simplistic, techno-fix solution” to the prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency and there are other sustainable measures that have no negative impact on human health and the environment.

A group of activist farmers in the Philippines stormed a government research facility and destroyed an area of genetically modified rice crops the size of 10 football fields. According to New Scientist, the farmers say that genetically modified organism (GMO) foods have not been established to be safe for consumption and that the real solution to world hunger isn’t biologically engineered plants, but a reduction in worldwide rates of poverty.

One of our Golden Rice field trials in the Philippines was vandalized on Thursday, 8 Aug 2013.

A full statement was issued immediately: Malnutrition fight goes on, Golden Rice research continues. Later in the day, Dr. Bruce Tolentino, IRRI’s deputy director general for communications and partnership, followed up with a video message: Golden Rice research continues.

“Golden Rice,” a genetically modified variety of rice grown in the Philippines is weeks away from being submitted to food safety authorities for approval to mass-produce

Members of the Philippine media visited IRRI’s Golden Rice screenhouse yesterday as part of a day-long event focused on research into nutritious and high-quality rice. The Media Day was part of IRRI’s activities in celebration of the Philippine Nutrition Month that has the theme Gutom at malnutrisyon, sama-sama nating wakasan! (Together we can end hunger and malnutrition!)

Are genetically modified organisms (GMO), widely used in food crops in 34 countries, poisonous to the human body if ingested? The debate on this question, which started in 1996, hasn’t been resolved.

In the Philippines the debate – focused on the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) – is now in its second round in over a decade.

International agricultural experts cited the Philippines for being a leader in the promotion of biotechnology in food production as well as for making the list of 18 so-called “mega-countries” that grow genetically modified (GM) or transgenic crops.

These statements were raised Monday at a forum held at the US Embassy in Manila.