'Botanist's death a big loss to herbal industry'

MANILA, Philippines - The herbal industry is mourning the death of taxonomist Leonardo Co, one of the country’s top botanists, who was killed in supposed crossfire between government troops and communist rebels in Leyte.

In an interview, Dr. Rainier Villanueva, founding president of the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines, said Co’s death is a big loss to the industry of “traditional medicine” in the wake of “bio-piracy” being committed by foreign scientists on the country’s natural resources.

“We are sad, we just lost a respected and talented taxonomist. It’s such a waste that he died that way. He was in the mountain, in the line of duty. He was identifying plants and most probably included medicinal herbal plants,” Villanueva said.

Co was reportedly collecting seedlings of endangered trees in a forest in Leyte when he was supposedly trapped in crossfire between soldiers and insurgents last Monday.

Also killed was Co’s local guide Julius Borromeo and Sofronio Cortez, a forest guard of the Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. with which the botanist was working as a consultant.

Villanueva said Co was seriously concerned about the practice of many foreign scientists who come to the Philippines to study traditional medicinal plants.

“They talked with traditional healers and then when they go back to their countries, they have (the plants) patented. We are saddened by (Co’s) death and we hope that justice will be served to him,” he said.