1. Joint Department Circular No.

1, series of 2016

As a result of the DA-AO No 8 having been declared as null and void, a Joint Department
Circular between the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Deparment of Agriculture
(DA), Deparment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health
(DOH), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was created which tackles the
Rules and Regulations for the Reasearch and Development, Handling and Use, Transboundary
Movement, Release into the Envorinment, and Management of Genetically Modified Plant and
Plant Products Derived from the Use of Modern Biotechnology in line with the state policy to
protect the rights of the people to life, health and a balanced and healthful environment and in
response to its commitment to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.1

The Circular mandated each of the above government agencies with specific roles in
relation to guide the development, adoption and implementation of all biosafety policies,
measures and guidelines and in making decisions concerning the research, development,
handling and use, transboundary movement, release into the environment and management of
‘regulated articles’2 where a Standard of Precaution, Risk Assessment, Environmental and
Health Impact Assessment, Socio-Economoc, Ethical and Cultural Considerations, Accessiblity
of Information and Transparency of Public Participation have to be considered before rendering
biosafety decisions.

Article 5 of the Circular discusses the Policy on Field Trial of Regulated Articles wherein
a Biosafety Permit has to be secured for regulated articles that have satisfactorily passed the
process on contained use or confimed test supervised and officially endorse by the DOST.
Before a Biosafety Permit is issued, an applicant has to submit a long list of supporting
documents which include a technical dossier consisting of scientific literature, unpublished
studies or test data, or such other scientific materials relied upon by the applicant to show that,
for the use it is intended, the regulated article does not pose greater risk to biodiversity, human
and animal health than its conventional counterpart, among others.

2. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) System

Environmental Assessment (EA) refers to the process of systematic analysis, evaluation and
management of the potential environmental and social effects, short-term and long-term, of
proposed actions or projects. It is an administrative tool that integrates environmental
considerations in development initiatives to ensure that the proposed projects will have minimal
environmental impacts and be environmentally sound (ADB, 2003)3.
The spurt of large-scale economic activities that failed to sufficiently account for the
damaging effects of the said activities to the environment caused the inception of the

1
DOST-DA-DENR-DOH-DILG JDC No 1, Series of 2016. http://biotech.da.gov.ph/upload/Final_DOST-DA-DENR-DOH-
DILG_JDCs2016.pdf. (last accessed 2 Dec 2019)
2
“Regulated article” refers to a genetically modified organism and its products (NBF, Sec. 3.3.12).
3
Asian Development Bank. (2003). Environmental Assessment Guidelines. Retrieved from
http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/32635/files/environmental-assessment-
guidelines.pdf (last accessed 1 Dec 2019)
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which involves assessing and forecasting the probable
impacts of these activities on the environment, has a vital part in resolving these environmental
concerns. The EIA was conceptualized from the study framework first introduced in 1969 in the
US. In 1992, Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration adopted EIA as a national instrument for
sustainable development which “shall be undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to
have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of competent
national authority” (Tuyor et al., 2007).4

In the Philippines, environmental protection against damage and deterioration is embodied

through the establishment of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System and the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Our EIS System is known as one of the most
comprehensive environmental systems in the world, even dubbed as “extremely comprehensive”
(Tuyor et al., 2007).5 Our counrty’s EIS system does not only give emphasis on regulating
industrial pollution but also defending the rights of the local communities affected.
The concept was first introduced in in the Philippines in 1977 with the issuance of the
Presidential Decree (PD) 1151, or the Philippine Environmental Policy. It was aimed to address
the necessity to frame a comprehensive program to protect the the environment and all its
spectrum. It specifies the requirement for an environmental impact assessments and statements to
sustain the State’s policy to “(1) create, develop, maintain and improve conditions under which
man and nature can live in harmony with each other; (2) fulfil the social, economic and other
requirements of present and future generations; and (3) insure the attainment of an environmental
quality that is conducive to a life of dignity and well-being.”6 Evidently, PD 1511 fortifies the
national objective for an intergenerational responsibility and sustainable development through
environmental assessment laws. It encourages the employment of all feasible means, to exploit
environmental resources without destroying the ecological balance in the long term.
It is the mandate of the law that all national government and private entities to prepare and
submit an EIS for any project or activity that may significantly affect the quality of the
environment. The EIS shall provide detailed statement on:

 the environmental impact of the proposed action, project or undertaking;

 any adverse environmental effect which cannot be avoided should the proposal be
implemented;
 alternative to the proposed action;
 a determination that the short-term uses of the resources of the environment are
consistent with the maintenance and enhancement of the long-term productivity of the
same; and
 whenever a proposal involves the use of depletable or non-renewable resources, a
finding must be made that such use and commitment are warranted.

4
Tuyor, J.B., et al. (2007). The Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System: Framework, Implementation,
Performance and Challenges. Discussion papers, East Asia and Pacific Region. Rural Development, Natural
Resources and Environment Sector. Washington, DC: World Bank.
5
Id.
6
PD 1151 (1977). Department of Energy. Retrieved from https://www.doe.gov.ph/presidential-decree-no-1151
(last accessed 1 Dec 2019)
 PD 1511 is a landmark law that lays the foundation for the country's precautionary principle
of environmental policies by requiring an environmental impact statement to be presented on
projects and activities that may negatively impact affect the environment..
3. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System

PD 1586 or the Law Establishing an Environmental Impact Statement System Including

Other Environmental Management Related Measures and Other Purposes was signed on 11 June
1978, which reinforced the EIS as required by PD 1511 by formalizing the implementation of the
Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System.
Section 4 of the said law states that the President is empowered to declare certain projects or
areas, by his own initiative or upon the recommendation of the National Environmental
Protection Council, as “environmentally critical” and prohibits the implementation or operation
of these projects without first securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). 7 In
other words, the law provides ECC as a requirement to conduct Environmentally Critical
Projects (ECPs) or operate in Environmentally Critical Areas (ECAs). Meanwhile, for projects or
activities that are environmentally non-critical, both the EIS and ECC systems are not required
but may be conducted for additional environmental safeguards.
III. THE STATE and LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S STAND ON GMO

A. Statutory Regulations

As tackled in the previous chapter, since it became a party to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
in 2006, the Philippines has so far issued Biosafety Regulations but not Biosafety Laws.8

Perhaps the pinnacle on this issue was when the Supreme Court resolved to permanently
stop the field testing of the genetically modified BT eggplant in UP Los Banos and the
subsequent creation of the issuance of NCBP made an impression to the proponents that the
State is leaned to become adversarial towards its stand about the subject matter. For
environmental activists, it is a moral stand to elude ruinous consequences.
In the Seventeenth Congress, House Bill 2719 or the “GMO-Free Agriculture Act of
2015” was introduced by the Makabayan block Congressmen to completely ban the use of GMO
in the country. The proposed law enjoins the release, laboratory and field testing, processing, sale
and similar acts of crops and food products consisting of, containing or derived from GMO’s.9

7
PD 1586 (1978). ESTABLISHING AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT SYSTEM, INCLUDING OTHER
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT RELATED MEASURES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Retrived from
https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1978/pd_1586_1978.html (last accessed 2 Dec 2019)
8
Aruelo Lee, 2016. Philippines GMO-Free Zones: Successful Roots in Organic Policy and Law. Retrieved from
https://www.gmo-free-regions.org/index.php?id=3959. Last accessed 2 Dec 2019
9
HB No 2719, 17th Cong. 1st Sess. (2016)
 Provincial governments are endorsing the establishment of GMO-free zones in the
Philippines. Republic Act 7160 of 1991 otherwise known as The Local Government Code
provides LGUs legal mandate to initiate and launch programs independent from the national
government. This is in line with the objective to decentralize national functions (e.g. agricultural
extension) to local governments.10
In Bohol, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed Resolution 2003-235 which declared the
entire island GMO free and was supplemented by a Provincial Ordinance 2003-10 known as
“The Safeguards against GMOs”, which set conditions in the entry of GM plants and
microorganisms into the province.11

10
AgBioForum. Liborio S. Cabanilla. 11 January 2008. Socio-Economic and Political Concerns for GM Foods and
Biotechnology Adoption in the Philippines. http://www.agbioforum.org/v10n3/v10n3a07-cabanilla.htm (last
accessed 4 December 2019)
11
GRAIN. 20 Dec 2019. Bohol GMO-free ordinance launched July 21. https://www.grain.org/en/article/3767-
bohol-gmo-free-ordinance-launched-july-21 (last accessed 3 December 2019)