Import of genetically modified rice halted

Manila: A lower court in suburban Quezon City has stopped a multinational company from importing genetically modified rice into the Philippines, a local paper said.

Giving the directive, judge Evangeline Marigomen chastised Bayer Philippines Inc., for overlooking constitutional provisions while planning to import Liberty Link Rice 62 (LLR62), a product genetically manipulated for weed resistance, the Star reported.

"With the unfavourable press and debates this genetically modified product has generated, it is but prudent that the approval (of the importation) - and not the study, evaluation or the application of the private respondents - be restrained considering that rice is a staple food of Filipinos," the lower court said.

The injunction would be in place while a case filed by environmentalists against Bayer is heard, the lower court said.

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace and prominent personalities, including actress-model Angel Aquino, model Amanda Claire Griffin, and beauty queen Anna Theresa Licaros, had filed petitions contending that ordinary Filipinos would be put at risk if Bayer was allowed to import the rice.