By CESAR JOLITO III
Government officials in Negros Occidental are once again pressed to reject a pending provincial ordinance that would open the door to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the province, as advocates of GMO-free agriculture renewed their calls for strong local organic farming.
Members of GMO-Free Negros, speaking at a press conference on Friday, November 21, at the Terra Madre street food exhibition area during the Terra Madre Asia and Pacific Festival in Bacolod City, said the proposed GMO ordinance threatens nearly two decades of work that positioned Negros as a national leader in organic agriculture.
Andrea Lizares Si of GMO-Free Negros said the timing of the renewed push for the ordinance is alarming, especially as the province hosts major organic and sustainability-focused events.
“We think it will be a big shame if, after Terra Madre, the National Organic Congress and the provincial organic fair, we are going to have GMO after all,” Si said.
“It’s like we are reversing all the work of 19 years without GMO,” she added.
Si said one of the reasons Terra Madre Asia and Pacific chose Negros Occidental as host is its reputation as a GMO-free province with a strong organic farming sector.
Allowing GMOs, she warned, contradicts the very foundation of the province’s agricultural identity.
“We cannot combine GMO and organic agriculture,” she said, asserting that GMO use “will poison the soil” and undermine the province’s organic integrity.
She stressed that modern agriculture must remain sustainable.
“People need healthy food. We need to protect the earth,” Si added.
Si was joined by Bobby Magalona of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental, Chito Medina of the Magsasaka at Siyentipiko Para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag), and Ruth Gamboa of the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and the Environment — all echoing a united stand to maintain Negros as a GMO-free zone.
Provincial officials earlier said discussions on the ordinance would resume after Terra Madre.
GMO-Free Negros urged the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to instead shelve the proposal permanently, citing threats to the organic industry, environmental sustainability and food security.
The proposed ordinance, which remains pending at the committee level, aims to establish a framework for regulating the introduction and cultivation of GMO crops in the province.
However, critics argue that even limited approval could “open the floodgates” for GMO farming and threaten Negros Occidental’s decades-long organic identity.
In October, the GMO-Free Negros Coalition argued that Negros Occidental is under no legal obligation after the provincial government’s joint legal-scientific team recommended amendments to its existing GMO ordinance to harmonize local rules with the national policy framework.
They stressed that the circular sets only minimum national standards and cannot override the constitutional authority of local governments to impose stricter safeguards, including outright bans.
“Negros must defend its heritage and safeguard the future of the next generations. To open the door to GMOs would put farmers, ecosystems and food sovereignty at grave risk,” the coalition said in a statement.
The GMO-Free Negros Coalition, which includes farmers, church leaders, civil society organizations, and consumers, led the push with a 22-page position paper signed by 39 groups and endorsed by San Carlos City Bishop Gerardo Alminaza.
Three more blocs followed with separate position papers: the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental, a joint statement from First Farmers Holding Corporation and the First Farmers Planters Association, and the Negrosanon Youth under the Rise for Roots Movement, backed by 50 student leaders and student-journalists./CJ, WDJ