IN AN en banc ruling dated May 2, 12012, the Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan on the commercial production of Bt talong. A writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy designed for the protection of one's constitutional right to a healthy environment.
Petitioners assailed genetically-modified (GM) crops like Bt talong, claiming these pose danger to human health. They are advocating transgenic-free food production "based on principles of sustainability and protection of biodiversity."
Last June, 2013, the Court of Appeals struck a blow to GM crops in the Philippines by its decision to stop field trials for Bt talong.
"Contrary to the baseless allegations of the petitioners, Bt eggplant is potentially the best environmentally friendly technology for eggplant production," former Science Secretary Emil Q. Javier said in reaction to the petition filed before the Supreme Court in 2012.
Excessive use of insecticides in eggplant farms is an urgent concern that calls for a safer alternative, according to Dr. Emiliana Bernardo, a member of the Department of Agriculture's Scientific and Technical Review Panel which reviews and assesses the safety of gene modified foods such as Bt talong and Bt corn.
The eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB) has been cited as the most destructive insect pest. Scientifically, it is called "Leucinodes orbonalis," a moth specie prevalent in Asia and Africa. The moths' larvae feed on eggplant shoots and fruits until maturity.
"The EFSB can cause as much as 50-75 percent loss of fruits," said Dr. Javier, who is the president of the National Academy of Science and Technology. "The worm of the insect bore tunnels in the fruit, rendering them unfit for consumption."
Unfortunately, there is no known genetic resistance to EFSB in cultivated and wild eggplants. "The insects are concealed in the shoots and fruits and are difficult to reach," Dr. Javier explained. "Thus in order to protect their crops, farmers spray their plants almost every other day with insecticides."
The current methods used by some eggplant growers in controlling the fruit and shoot borer are unacceptable, said Dr. Bernardo, an entomologist or a scientist who studies insects.
Many eggplant farmers spray chemical insecticides every other day, or up to 80 times per growing season to control fruit and shoot borer infestation in their farms, she pointed out.
The practice is unacceptable and unhealthy to consumers, farmers and the environment, said Bernardo who is also a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee of the University of the Philippines Los BaƱos for the multi-location field trial of Bt eggplant in the university.
She said studies conducted in major eggplant producing provinces found that almost all farmers use chemical insecticides and that some even dip the unharvested eggplant fruits in a mix of chemicals just to ensure that harvests are marketable.
"The very basic question is, which is safer, the present practice or the alternative, the Bt eggplant which is rigorously evaluated by experts?" she asked. "Is bathing the unharvested eggplant fruits in chemicals, which would end up in dinner tables of people, safe?"
"Bt talong was developed by genetically engineering a gene from the bacteria so that the GM eggplants now produce a protein that defends it against insect attacks," explained Dr. Michael Purugganan, a Filipino plant geneticist. "The recent Court of Appeals decision stops this scientific research, halting the university field experiments."
At the heart of this court ruling is a public perception that biotech crops are intrinsically bad. "Yet, these crops have been around for more than two decades," said Dr. Purugganan, who is the Dean of Science at the New York University, in an article which appeared in GMA News Online.
Bt comes from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil microorganism that has been used for decades as bacterial suspension spray to control insects in vegetables. It is naturally present in the Philippine soil and had been in use for years without any harmful effects.
As it comes from the earth itself, Bt is very natural, according to Dr. Emiliana Bernardo, an entomologist and retired professor of the University of the Philippines. It has been present in the soil for so many years. In 1901, Bt was discovered to have an insecticidal property, which came from the protein it produces. By 1950s, it became a well-known biological insecticide.
What makes Bt exceptional from other kinds of pest controls is specificity. Take the case of Dipel, a brand of Bt microbial pesticide. The name is actually an anagram of the Order of insects that it targets - the Lepidopterans. These are insects with scaly wings during their adult stage; examples include moths and butterflies.
As it comes naturally, Bt is one of the few pesticides permitted by organic standards. But because of its specific mode of action, farmers are not much agog on Bt. Most farmers, Dr. Bernardo said, want all insects to be eliminated. This was the main reason why the use of Bt bio pesticides declined and chemical pesticides proliferated.
But are these Bt crops safe to eat? The GM Science Review Panel of the United Kingdom has this to say: ""For human health, to date there is no evidence currently commercialized GM crop varieties or foods made from them, are toxic, allergenic or nutritionally deleterious. On balance, we conclude that the risks to human health are very low for GM crops currently on the market."
The Geneva-based World Health Organization also assured: "The potential direct health effects of GM foods are generally comparable to the known risks associated with conventional foods, and include, for example, the potential for allergenicity and toxicity of components present, and the nutritional quality and microbiological safety of the food."