A misapplication of the Writ of Kalikasan (Part 2)
THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHFUL ECOLOGY The second half of the Writ of Kalikasan has to do with the right to a healthful ecology. Specifically, the question the Court had been asked to resolve was whether the consumption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant is potentially harmful to the health of Filipinos. The Bt eggplant is identical with the conventional eggplant except for the artificial introduction of a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The Bt gene confers to the eggplant the ability to synthesize a class of proteins called Cry1A which are toxic to the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (FSB) and other insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera (commonly referred to as butterflies). The Cry1A proteins while toxic to butterflies are harmless to human beings, other mammals and other insects belonging to different Orders like beetles, flies and mosquitoes. They are benign to man for two reasons. The Cry1A [...]