Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No.5990

INTRODUCED BY ANAKPAWIS PARTY-LIST REPRESENTATIVE
FERNANDO L, HICAP

EXPLANATORY NOTE

A world without IRRI is a world free from monopoly of rice crop varieties
and from diseases and deaths brought by IRRI's agro-chemicals, Such was the
concise yet very powerful message of a thousand farmers, agriculturist and
scientists coming from the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,
Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan, in a protest action
in April 2010 in Los Banos, Laguna, which then coincided with the fiftieth
anniversary of IRRI or the International Rice Research Institute

IRRI was established in 1959 by virtue of a Memorandum of
Understanding between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and
both the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, The institute was envisioned to be
the world’s prime mover in rice science and technology purportedly to reduce
food-insecurity-related poverty in the Philippines as well as in the rest of the
rice-producing countries in the underdeveloped rey

ons.

Fifty-five years hence, however, according to the Kilusang Magbubukid
hg Pilipinas (KMP), the biggest peasant organization in the Philippines, [RRI
cannot at all claim that it has actually done anything that could positively be
considered as a contribution to the food security of the Philippines or of other
poor and agricultural countries. IRRI’s researches to supposedly improve rice
and even corn production have not led to any significant development in the
country’s agricultural productivity. The state of Philippine agriculture in fact
has consistently worsened to the point that this otherwise “gracious” and
“lucky” host country of IRRI is now also, and very oddly, the world’s biggest net
importer of rice

What IRRI has outstandingly accomplished, rather, 1s the
institutionalization of a rice production system that is highly dependent on
ecologically unfriendly pesticide products promoted by its transnational
corporation (TNC) partners. IRRI's science and technology mandate has long
been geared almost solely toward the constant development and dissemination
of hybrid, genetically engincered crops to complement and perpetuate the use ol
the said harmful chemicals promoted by predatory TNCs such as Monsanto
Syngenta, Bayer, Dow AgroSciences and BASF among others. For over five
decades now, IRRI has indeed been an instrument of monopoly capitals



onslaught upon the agriculture of the Philippines and of other Third World
nations,

The introduction of IRRI's high yielding varieties of rice and corn grains
during the now infamous Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s led to an
unprecedented use of and dependence to pesticides and herbicides that soon
disturbed and seriously harmed the previously prevailing natural ecosystem in
the rice fields. Scientific tests have in fact proven how genetically modified crop
varieties produce particular types of toxins and allergens that not only prompt
allergic reactions but could also cause damage to vital human organs

On top of what IRRI has already contributed to the continued sorry state
of Philippine agriculture, the institute, furthermore, according to Brotherhood of
IRRI Support Services Group (BISSIG), a labor organization in IRRI, has been
abusing its international status through its seemingly endless list of violations
of its workers’ rights to organize, to collectively bargain and negotiate, and to
hold strikes.

In 1979, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No, 1620 declared
IRRI as an international organization, with all the privileges and immunities
that came with the granting of such status. IRRI thus has been able to justify
its anti-labor practices. IRRI has intermittently carried out mass lay-offs in
1989, 1993 and 1996, It has implemented questionable retrenchment programs
that has warranted the unfair dismissal of regular employees. The institute has
also engaged in union busting which included the harassment of union leaders
and members.

These workers have failed in their various attempts to seek redress from
the courts given IRRI’s immunity from suit which it enjoys under Presidential
Decree No. 1620, The same immunity has also been invoked to bar the workers
from claiming compensation for having been afflicted with illnesses due to
exposure to toxic chemicals and to inhuman working conditions

Presidential Decree No. 1620, however, is not an international pact that
cannot be repealed, IRRI does not in fact approximate a party such as a
representative of any sovereign state entitled to privileges and immunities as are
contained in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Neither can IRRI
invoke to be an entity comparable to a specialized agency of the United Nations

Moreover, the international agreement signed by former President Fidel
V. Ramos and representatives of ten (10) countries in May 19, 1995, which
acknowledged IRRI as an international organization has yet to be ratified by
the Philippine Senate. The said agreement furthermore does not compel any
party to the agreement to grant IRRI any privileges and immunities or any
form of financial support

This legislative measure seeks to repeal PD 1620 precisely to strip IRRI
of these said unjustifiable privileges and immunities which have been used to
grossly violate the fundamental rights and freedom of IRRI workers with
impunity. More compellingly, this bill, filed previously during the first regular
session of the Fourteenth Congress by then Anakpawis Representative Rafael
Mariano, is being refiled today to decisively challenge the collusion of IRRI
and greedy agrochemical transnational corporations, in the hope of arresting

2



which has

Philippine agriculture’s ruinous dependence on chemical inpu
caused farmers to suffer illnesses and has destroyed the country’s traditional
rice varieties. This bill, thus, is not only in defense of the welfare of Filipino
workers and peasants but also a commitment to Philippine sovereignty and
patrimony.

In view of the foregoing, the speedy passage of this bill is earnestly

sought.

FERNANDO Y. AlCAP


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 9990

INTRODUCED BY ANAKPAWIS PARTY-LIST REPRESENTATIVE
FERNANDO L, HICAP

AN ACT REPEALING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1620 OTHERWISE
KNOWN AS “GRANTING TO THE INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE (IRRI) THE STATUS, PREROGATIVES, PRIVILEGES AND

IMMUNITIES OF AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

ntial Decree No, 1620 otherwise known as “Granung
Status, Prerogatives
is hereby repealed

SECTION 1. Pr
to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) the
Privileges and Immunities of an International Organization

SECTION 2. All laws, jurisprudence, executive orders, executive
issuances or letter of instructions, or any part thereof, inconsistent with or
contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby deemed repealed, amended or
modified accordingly

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of
general circulation.

Approved