President Fidel Ramos continued with this policy and until now his Agriculture secretary, Salvador Escudero, speaks out regularly in favor of biotechnology. And so did deposed president Estrada and his Agriculture secretary, Edgardo Angara. They even expanded on this by issuing a policy statement that biotechnology would anchor the government s thrust for national food security. Now, all this has gone for naught. Herself the direct beneficiary of EDSA 2 that deposed the corrupt Estrada regime, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo seems to have abandoned a proven approach to agricultural modernization and pandered to the demands of some elements in civil society.
Environmentalists claim that modified plants are a potential hazard.
One of the dangers, they say, is that these crops may prove so resilient that they could conquer other plants in their habitat and proliferate unchecked. The use of genetically-altered crops as biological control agents, for instance, will reduce drastically the use of harmful chemical pesticides. Their use will also increase farm production without harming the environment. But with her statement, it looks as if the President will now allow the advances made by Filipino scientists and researchers to go to waste. It will also effectively block the introduction of GMO crops that have proven effective in increasing food output in foreign countries.