1. Biotechnology in
the Philippines
An Nicole Canaway
Emil Gabriel Gabrang

2. • The Philippinesis the first ASEAN country to
initiate a biotechnology regulatorysystem
with the issuanceof Executive OrderNo.
430 in 1990, which establishedthe National
Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines
(NCBP). The countries biosafety regulatory
system followsstrict scientificstandards and
has becomea model for member-countries
of the ASEAN seekingto becomeproducers
of agricultural biotechnologycrops.

3. • Agricultural biotechnologyis recognizedby
the Philippinegovernment as one of the
potent tools to attain food security and
sustainable agriculture,and promote health
and food/environmentalsafety. This section
traces the development of modern
agricultural biotechnologyin the country. It
contains a slideshowof notable milestone
events in the history of modern agricultural
biotechnology R&D in the Philippinesthat
evolvedsince 1970s.

4. 1979
Establishment of
UPLB BIOTECH
The National Institutes for
Microbiology and
Biotechnology (now called
National Institute for
Molecular Biology and
Biotechnology) of the
University of the Philippines
Los Baños (UPLB), was
established.

5. 1987
GE Guidelines
Formulation
Publicsector
scientists formulated
the guidelines for
genetic engineering
(GE).

6. 1990
Executive Order No. 430
The NationalCommittee on
Biosafety of the Philippines
(NCBP)was established by
virtue of ExecutiveOrder No.
430 on 15 October1990.

7. 1991
NCBP Biosafety
Guidelines
NCBP issuedthecountry'sfirst
biosafetyguidelinesthat
coversprimarilythe
importation,transportand
containeduseofGMOs. It
containsproceduresfor
evaluationandrequired
containmentlevelsforeach
activity.

8. 1995
PresidentialProclamation
No. 526
In February 2, 1995, then president
Fidel Ramos issued Proclamationno.
526constituting the various
biotechnology institutes within the
University ofthe Philippines System
as the network ofthe national
institutes ofbiotechnology, and
designating thesaid network as
National Center of Excellence in
Molecular Biologyand
Biotechnology.

9. 1996
Bt corn greenhousetrial/
GM ricecongressional
hearing
The NCBPrevised thecountry's
biosafety guidelines.
The first greenhousetrial of Bt
corn and the congressional
hearingon genetically modified
(GM) rice were conducted.

10. 1997
National BiotechnologyR&D Program
Billed as the “Biotechnology: Pole-vaulting Philippine
Agriculture in the 21st Century”, the Legislative-Executive
DevelopmentAdvisory Council (LEDAC)approved the
National Biotechnology R&D Program for Agriculture,
Forestry and Natural Resourcesspearheaded by the DOST’s
Philippine Council for Agriculture Forestryand Natural
Resources(PCARRD).
The Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997
(AFMA),which was passed and signed by then President
Fidel V. Ramos, fully recognized the importance of
biotechnology in modernizing Philippine agriculture.

11. 1998
Papaya Biotechnology
Network
Southeast Asiancountries,
includingthe Philippines,
formed the Papaya
BiotechnologyNetworkto
develop virus-resistant
and delayed-ripening
papaya varieties.

12. 1999
DOST-PCARRD Crop
Biotechnology
Program
The DOST-PCARRD
Crop Biotechnology
Program (Coconut,
Mango, Papaya, Corn
and Banana)was
implemented.

13. 1999 - 2001
FieldTesting of Bt Corn
The first fieldtesting of Bt
cornwas conducted in 1999.
Monsanto Philippinesand
Pioneer-HiBredconducted
multi-locationfieldtrial of Bt
corn in 2001.

14. 2000
DA Biotechnology
Program
The Department of
Agriculture's
BiotechnologyProgram
ImplementationUnit
was established.

15. 2001
PhilippinePolicy
Statement on Modern
Biotechnology
FormerPresident
GloriaMacapagal
Arroyoissuedpolicy
statement on safe and
responsibleuse of
modern
biotechnology.

16. 2002
DA AdministrativeOrder No.
8 / Bt Corn Approval
-TheDepartment of Agriculture
issued Administrative Order No. 8
which governs the import and release
into the environment of biotech
plants/products.
-After sevenyears of rigorous
scientific study and evaluation, the Bt
corn was approved for planting in the
country.

17. 2005
Herbicide-tolerantCorn
Approval
-The second biotechcrop, a
herbicide-tolerantcorn,was
approved for cultivationin the
country.
-Former President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo issued the
Proclamation No. 861
establishing the National

18. 2006
National Biosafety
Framework
The National
Biosafety Framework
was established
through the virtue of
Executive Order No.
514.

19. 2007
Institutionalizationof the
NationalBiotechnology Week
-The Philippine government
institutionalized theannual
celebration of the National
Biotechnology Week thru
Presidential Proclamation 1414.
-ThePhilippines became one of
the signatories to the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety on January
8, 2007.

20. 2008
Creation of Biosafety Clearing
House (BCH)Pilipinas
The National Committee on Biosafety
of the Philippines (NCBP),
Departments of Science and
Technology (DOST), Agriculture (DA),
Environmentand Natural Resources
(DENR), and Health (DOH)
announced the official launching of
the BCH Pilipinas: The Philippine
Biosafety Clearing House (BCH), on 7
August 2008.

21. 2009
Completion of Bt Eggplant
Limited Confined Trial
The NCBP issued the
Certificationof
Satisfactory Completion of
Confined Trial of Bt
eggplant to the Instituteof
Plant Breeding, Crop
ScienceCluster, University
of the PhilippinesLos
Baños.

22. 2010
Completion of Bt Cotton
Confined FieldTesting
-TheCotton DevelopmentAuthority
has completed the confinec field
testing of Bt cotton.
-DA-BPIhas issued permits for Bt
eggplant multilocation field trials for
three sites in March 2010 and for the
remaining four trial sites in June 2010.
-Morethan 540,000 hectares planted
with Bt corn.

23. 2011
Completion of Golden Rice Confined
Field Testing / Launchingof Philippine
Genome Center
-ThePhilippine RiceResearchInstitute
completed the confined field testing for
Golden Rice.
-ThePhilippine GenomeCenter (PGC) was
launched in November2011 at the University
of the Philippines Diliman. Health, agriculture,
biodiversity for drug discovery and bioenergy,
forensics and ethnicity, and ethical, legal, and
social issues associated with genomics research

24. 2012
Philippinearea planted to biotech maize
reached750,000 ha.
In 2012, the area planted to biotech maize in the
Philippines is projected to increase to 750,000 hectares,
up 16% from the estimated hectares of biotech maize in
2011. Notably, the area occupied in 2012 by the stacked
traits of Bt/HT maize is 675,000 hectares, compared with
only 545,000 hectares in 2011, with the stacked trait
maize occupying 90% of total biotech maize hectares in
2012, reflecting the preferenceof farmers for stacked
traits and the superior benefits they offer over a single
trait.