Philippines: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual

The Philippines is a regional biotechnology leader, highlighted by its passage in 2021 of Golden Rice for commercial propagation and Bt eggplant for direct use. This year also featured the Philippine Department of Agriculture inaugurating the Crop Biotechnology Center housed in the Philippine Rice Research Institute in the Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija. The modern facility was funded with PhP277 million ($5.4 million) from the U.S. Public Law 480 program and is poised to be the country’s hub for innovative plant research. Following passage of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines Resolution No. 1, series of 2020, the Bureau of Plant Industry is nearing completion of implementing rules on the regulation of gene edited plants and plant products. Moreover, by early 2022 the Philippines is also likely to complete its revision of current biotechnology regulations embodied in the Joint Departmental Circular of 2016.