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Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

Quezon City

3
|= oate:

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL Noo 243

Introduced by
BAYAN MUNA Representatives EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE, and FERDINAND R. GAITE,
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative FRANCE L. CASTRO,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Representative ARLENE D. BROSAS, and
KABATAAN Party-List Representative SARAH JANE I. ELAGO

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”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

A world without Intemational Rice Research Institute is a world free from monopoly of rice
crop varieties and from diseases and deaths brought by IRRI’s agro-chemicals. IRRI's
existence in the Philippines is more than half a century but failed to contribute in attaining
food security in the country. This concrete situation pushed Filipino peasantry, agriculturists
and scientists, food security advocates and people’s organizations to press the government of
agricultural programs and policies based on genuine rural development, free ftom foreign
monopoly control and sincere in achieving food security for the people.

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 regions.

Fifty-seven years hence, however, according to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP),
a nationwide peasant organization, IRRI cannot at all claim of its positive contribution to the
food security of the country or of other poor and agricultural countries. IRRI’s researches,
which they claim to improve rice and even corn production have not led to any significant
development in the country’s agricultural productivity. In fact, the state of Philippine
agriculture has consistently worsened to the point that the very host country of IRRI, fell to
becoming the world’s biggest net importer of rice in 2008, and being the third last year,
following China and Nigeria.

f, *
3 RECEIVED



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One of the highlighted cases of extreme starvation and production difficulties was experienced
by more than 6,000 farmers and Lumad people from Kidapawan and other parts of North
Cotabato in Mindanao, who protested demanding food on April 1, 2016. While this was
predominantly driven by the extreme drought, they also suffered abuses such as displacement
and militarization that hampered their agricultural cultivation and exacerbated their access to
food. Worsening was, the government neglect, amidst the many reports of hunger, the local
and national government failed to address the situation, through immediate food relief and
assistance. The farmers’ action were replied with a bloody dispersal by the Philippine National
Police known as the Kidapawan Carnage that left two farmers dead, more than a hundred
injured and seventy eight detained, including elderly and pregnant women.

If IRRI actually accomplished anything, it was the institutionalization of a tice production
system that is highly dependent on agro-chemical products such as pesticide, promoted by its
transnational corporation (I'NC) partners. IRRI’s science and technology mandate has long
been geared almost solely toward the constant development and dissemination of hybrid,
genetically engineered crops to complement and perpetuate the use of the said harmful
chemicals promoted by predatory TNCs such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow
AgroSciences and BASF among others. For over five decades now, IRI has indeed been an
instrument of monopoly capital's 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 agro-chemicals that eventually harmed the natural ecosystem in the rice fields.
Scientific tests have in fact proven how genetically modified (GMO) 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 April 8, 2015, Bill Gates, the 2017 Forbes richest billionaire, donated USD 10.3 million
dollars to IRRI through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGE) intended for
various research on genetically modified Golden Rice, a genetically manipulated variety that
contains beta carotene. According to Masipag, a network of farmer’s groups, scientist and
non-govemment organizations in the Philippines, the funding will be used for high
technology solutions like chemical farming and GMOs that would create further trouble
among poor peasant families and consumers.

Moreover, IRRI is enjoying its immunity to the point of blatant disregard of its workers who
were exposed to harmful and dangerous agro-chemical products and outright violations of
labor rights. 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

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carried out mass lay-offs in 1989, 1993 and 1996. It has implemented a questionable
retrenchment program 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 seck redress from the courts given
IRRP’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.
TRRI 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 Viewna Contention 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, as well as, shielding from
potential legal liabilities brought about agro-chemical agriculture, impact on the environment
and health. ‘This bill was filed during the first regular session of the 14th Congress by then
Anakpawis Representative Rafael Mariano, during the third regular session of the 16"
Congress by former Representative Fernando Hicap, and during the first regular session of
the 17" Congress by Anakpawis Representative Ariel Casilao. It is refiled today to fulfill the
rights of Filipinos and decisively challenge the collusion of IRRI and agro-chemical ‘TNCs,
in the hope of altering the country’s agricultural dependence on agro-chem, which is
contributory to the deterioration of people’s health, producers, as well as consumers, and
significantly, wiped out the traditional practices of food production in the country. ‘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.


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Approved,

Rep. curemid ‘C. CULLAMAT

Bayan Muna Party-list

Rep. cathe RARE | . FERDINAN! . GAITE

Bayan Muna Party-list Bayan Muna Party-list

Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO
ACT Teachers Party-list

Rep. SARAH JANE I. ELAGO
Kabataan Party-list


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

5247
HOUSE BILL No. ___

Introduced by
BAYAN MUNA Representatives EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE, and FERDINAND R. GAITE,
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative FRANCE L. CASTRO,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Representative ARLENE D. BROSAS, and
KABATAAN Party-List Representative SARAH JANE I, ELAGO

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 tt enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. 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” is hereby repealed.

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 after fifteen (15) days following its publication in the
Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,