Success of GM Maize in Philippines by Reynaldo V. Ebora, PCAARRD

1. Place Title of Presentation here
Regional Expert Consultation on Agricultural Biotechnology –
Scoping Partnership to Improve Livelihoods of Farmers in Asia-Pacific
Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
May 29-31, 2018
Success of GM Maize in the
Philippines
Reynaldo V. Ebora
Acting Executive Director, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic
and Natural Resources Research and Development
Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD - DOST)
Carlo G. Custodio Jr.
Philippines Country Coordinator, Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS)

2. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Outline
• Philippine policies on biotechnology
• Biosafety regulations
• Capacity building and communication initiatives
• GM maize adoption
• Economic impacts of GM maize
• New biosafety regulation
• Challenges and opportunities

3. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Philippine Policies on Biotechnology
• Infrastructure development
• Establishment of the National Institute of Biotechnology and
Applied Microbiology in 1979
• Proclamation 526-1995 established the network of National
Institutes of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology within the
University of the Philippines System
• Recognition of biotechnology as a tool for national
development
• Republic Act No. 8435-1997, or the Agriculture and Fisheries
Modernization Act (AFMA) recognized modern biotechnology as
one of the tools to realize improvement in crop production.

4. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Philippine Policies on Biotechnology
• Recognition of biotechnology as a tool for national development
• National Policy to use “biotechnology as a strategy to improve
agricultural production, modernize Philippine agriculture and
enhance rural development” January 17, 2000
• Policy statement endorsing the safe and responsible use of
modern biotechnology for food security, equitable access to
health, sustainable and safe environment, and industry
development. July 17, 2001
• Promoting public awareness
• Proclamation No. 1414-2007 declared every last week of
November as the National Biotechnology Week for public
awareness, education and understanding

5. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Executive Order No. 430; October 15, 1990
• The first biosafety system in a developing country
• Contained experiments to multilocation trials of Bt
maize conducted
• DA Administrative Order No. 8; April 03, 2002
• “a formalization of an already existing arrangement
between the Bureau of Plant Industry of DA and the
NCBP”
• “With the AO 8, field trials up to deregulation for
commercialization would now be handled by the DA BPI
after the proponent has obtained a certification of
completion for its contained facility testing”
• Commercial propagation of GM corn approved
Biosafety Regulations

6. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
• The Philippines signed the Protocol on May 24, 2000
• Executive Order No. 514; March 17, 2006
• NCBP became a policy making body
• Technical evaluations to be conducted by Competent
National Authorities (CNAs)
• Continued increase in area planted to GM maize; and
approvals for field trials
• Joint Department Circular 1-2016 (JDC-1 2016)
• A reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on the Bt
Eggplant Case
• Replacement to DA AO8
Biosafety Regulations

7. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Initial focus on BPI as the single entry point for GM
applications designated through DA AO 8
• Other government agencies where also represented
• Risk assessment for GM crops and products (environmental safety
and food safety)
• Insect Resistance Management
Capacity building for regulators
The Program for Biosafety Systems is an international program which assists partner governments in
the development of evidence based regulatory systems through technical assistance and capacity
building. focused on biosafety capacity building.
• It is managed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

8. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Introductory capacity building for CNAs when EO 514
was signed in anticipation of their greater roles
• Environmental Risk Assessment for DENR
• Food safety risk assessment for DOH
Capacity building for regulators

9. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines (Gonzales, 2011)
Sustained communication initiatives
• National Biotechnology Week Celebrations
Photo credits: Philippine News Agency Photo credits: PCAARRD
Government Agencies tasked to organize the NBW yearly:
DA, DOST, DOH, DENR, DTI, DILG, and DepEd

10. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines (Gonzales, 2011)
Sustained communication initiatives
• Communication training for collaborators in field trial sites
• Outreach to decision makers in government and
stakeholders
• Engagement with media
Institutions active in Biotechnology IEC
• International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)
• Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture –
Biotechnology Information Center (SEARCA-BIC)
• Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP)

11. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• MON 810 Approval
• Contained efficacy testing: approved September 10,
1997 by the NCBP
• Limited confined field testing: approved August 25, 1999
by the NCBP
• Multi-location, two-season field testing: approved June
6, 2001 by the NCBP
• Large scale propagation, Use as Food or Feed: approved
December 4, 2002 by DA-BPI
• The variety is preferred in the Philippines for feed
but was approved for both food and feed
• First approval in Asia of a GM crop for food and
feed
First Approval: MON 810

12. GM Maize Approval and Utilization in the Philippines
DA-BPI Data (2003-2016)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014-15 2016
Stacked 0 0 0 4,580 71,279 214,438 232,394 493,599 649,130 676,806 559,628 602,026. 649,037
Herbicide Tolerant 0 0 0 26,493 120,023 51,485 46,809 8,690 15,038 20,948 168,450 86,192.0 7,047
Insect Resistant 10,769 59,756 50,009 96,800 122,593 81,651 48,022 40,235 21,205 21,693 0 0 0
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
AreaPlanted(Ha)
Stacked
Herbicide
Tolerant
Insect Resistant
As of March 2016=656,084 ha.
http://biotech.da.gov.ph/
All GM corn planted in the Philippines are varieties preferred for feed but are
approved for both food and feed.

13. Top GM maize
producing areas
2016 (BPI data)

14. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Average area planted and harvested to yellow maize is 1.05
hectares with a range of 0.62 hectares to 2 hectares in 2013 (PSA.
Dec 2014)
• Planting seasons can range from one to three per year depending
on the area in the country (Gerpacio et. al. 2004)
• Area planted to yellow maize in 2015 was 1.3 M ha. (PSA. Aug
2016), 0.68 M ha of which are GM maize (BPI data)
• The use of GM maize has a statistically significant net-income
increasing effect of PhP4,300/hectare. (Yorobe and Smale, 2012)
• Data gathered from August 2007 to February 2008; 466 corn farmers
randomly selected in major corn producing villages in major corn
producing provinces
Yellow Corn Statistics

15. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Economic Impact of GM Maize
Contribution of GM maize seeds to improvements in
productivity and resource use efficiency (Gonzales, 2011)
• Animal-machine labor
use efficiency
• Human labor use
efficiency
The amount of labor utilization is minimized for every
metric ton of corn grain produced
(Gonzales, 2011) (Gonzales, 2011)

16. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Economic Impact of GM Maize
Contribution of GM maize seeds to improvements in
productivity and resource use efficiency (Gonzales, 2011)
• Chemical use efficiency –
general increase in yield while
there is a consistent decrease
in the application rates of
farm chemicals (insecticides
and weedicides)
• Fertilizer use efficiency –
higher growth of yield
compared to growth of NPK
fertilizer use
(Gonzales, 2011)
(Gonzales, 2011)

17. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• Formulated as a result of SC ruling on Bt Eggplant Case in
December 2015
• Published in two (2) newspapers of general circulation on
March 30, 2016; effective 15 days after
• Defining characteristics
• Greater involvement of government executive departments
• Requirement for public hearings for field trial applications
• Information on socio-economic, cultural and ethical consideration
as part of requirements
• Requirements for community representatives in Institutional
Biosafety Committees
• One of the community representatives shall be an elected official in the
LGU.
• The other community representative shall be selected from residents
who are members of the Civil Society Organizations represented in the
Local Poverty Reduction Action Team
Joint Department Circular 1-2016

18. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
• High adoption rates resulting in benefits at the farm and macro
level
• A need for capacity building for agencies currently involved in the
evaluation of GM crop applications
• A need for policy formulation fora to cover new requirements
under JDC 1
• Awareness building for stakeholders about JDC 1
• Need for farmers’ and traders’ voices to be heard in national
discourse
• Need for sustained scientific outreach to legislative and judicial
branches of the government
• Need for discussions on gene editing /new breeding techniques
Opportunities and Challenges

19. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology: Philippines
Thank You!
Salamat Po!