Hunger strikers, please contact Ag Minister to express your support (24/4/2003) | |
24 April 2003 Hunger strikers, please contact Ag Minister to express your support Re: Hunger strikers, 1st day... "We should not let transnational corporations (TNCs) make the decision on what we should eat; this decision is only ours to make", blurted out Mr. Mark Cervantes, one of the hunger strikers from the NGO South East Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment, to the DA officials who met them. Dr. Art Salazar, the head of the Department of Agriculture's Corn Program admitted during the dialogue with the hunger strikers there is already contamination of the country's agricultural crops resulting from the various field testings of Bt corn in the previous years and the only way to avoid further contamination of the country's other key agricultural crops is not to plant Bt corn. This contradicts the Department's claim that the genetically-engineered corn does not contaminate other native corn varieties and other plants and living matter situated in the sites where Bt corn is planted. The DA officials, also joined by Assec. Tejada of Field Operations, likewise admitted that the present DA Guidelines for the Field Testing and Commercialization of GMOs are not clear who should be held liable for these contaminations, or for that matter, disease outbreaks that affect the health of people or any other environmental calamity. The hunger strikers are Antonio Claparols (Environmental Society of the Philippines); Roberto Verzola (Philippine Greens); Luisita Esmao (PAKISAMA); Mark Cervantes (SEARICE); Arma Bertuso (SEARICE); and activists Gigie Cruz, Ramon Fernando, Rei Panaligan and Anne Laracas. --- From: Riza V. Tjahjadi |