Greenpeace blocks unloading of soybeans at Batangas wharf

TABANGAO, Batangas Bay — Greenpeace activists blocked here yesterday the unloading of some 17,000 tons of suspected genetically engineered soya beans off a Chinese-registered vessel docked at a private wharf owned by the General Milling Corp. (GMC).

This developed as Sen. Gregorio Honasan and Marikina Rep. Del de Guzman promised to file separate resolutions in both houses of Congress today calling for an inquiry into what they claimed was the unchecked entry of so-called "genetically modified organisms (GMOs)" into the country.

At about 8:30 a.m., two inflatable boats streamed toward the starboard side of the 190-meter Qui Gon Jinn Valetta docked at the GMC wharf leading to the company’s soybean extraction and storage facility.

Four Greenpeace activists in orange suits got off the rubber boats and clambered up the concrete pier. Before security men could stop them, they went straight to the sealed two-level conveyor belts running the length of the pier from a four-story boom beside the ship to the storage facility, and chained themselves to the upper level.

First in SE Asia

The activists draped their bodies with streamers calling for a stop to the importation of genetically engineered crops and food products.

Within a few minutes, the Greenpeace boats returned with two other "action teams" which then headed for a spot under the starboard-side stern of the ship. Using poles and magnets, they hoisted on the ship’s hull a 10-by-15 meter streamer with the words, in bold letters, "USA Stop Dumping GMOs on Asia."

This was the first major action of Greenpeace against GMOs in Southeast Asia. Simultaneous with the blockade here, local and foreign activists bombarded Philippine government Internet addresses with e-mails demanding stricter regulatory mechanisms for GMOs.

Von Hernandez, Greenpeace-Southeast Asia head, said the campaign aims to highlight the need for the immediate implementation of a full and strict labeling system for food products using genetically engineered ingredients.

Hernandez also asked GMC, a fully Filipino-owned corporation which holds the biggest share of the country’s soya oil and meal market, to stop importing genetically engineered soya.

The controversial soya shipment originated from Kalama in the United States.

Soybean extraction

GMC runs a soybean extraction and storage facility in this town. The facility, built in 1990, is the largest soybean crushing plant in the Philippines with a capacity of up to 1,000 tons of soybeans per day, although it currently processes only an average of 650 tons round-the-clock.

Nearly all companies in the country that use soya oil buy the product from GMC.

GMC plant manager Edmundo Bayani demanded that Greenpeace activists leave the premises. But he later consented to a dialogue with the leaders of international environmentalist group. He, however, refused to talk to reporters.

Bayani promised to set a meeting between Greenpeace leaders and Ric Pinca, GMC corporate affairs director.

Greenpeace only pulled out its activists who had chained themselves to the conveyor belt about three hours later when Honasan and De Guzman announced their intention to seek a congressional investigation into the importation of GMOs.

Greenpeace, along with local environmentalist groups, has been campaigning for a comprehensive government policy regulating the importation, use and labeling of genetically engineered food and crops.

‘Barking up the wrong tree’

When contacted by The STAR, Pinca said Greenpeace "is barking up the wrong tree."

He said the group should be more concerned about the fact that the Philippines is importing over one million tons of soya meal annually.

GMC, he said, only brings into the country a small fraction of soybeans — less than 200,000 tons — every year.

Besides, Pinca said there are no government prohibitions against the importation of the agricultural commodity.

He stressed that the issue about genetically modified products "is still being discussed in the international circle" and that there exist no conclusive scientific findings "that we should ban (them)."

"Asia should not be a dumping ground for risky (genetically engineered) products," said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace-Southeast Asia’s campaigner against genetic engineering.

"We cannot feed our children with food that the rest of the world is rejecting," Baconguis added.

Concerns have been raised about the risks associated with GMOs. Critics contend that the technology remains unstable, posing potential health risks to humans and animals alike.

They also claim that GMOs present a real threat to biodiversity, with high risks of contaminating natural stocks of food crops.

"The long-term effects of releasing genetically engineered crops into the environment and into people’s diets remain unknown for the most part," Baconguis said.

"Many scientists acknowledge that none of the genetically engineered crops in the market have undergone long-term food safety tests," he added.