Former SU president tackles GMOs, biosafety issues

Dr. Ben S. Malayang III, environmental policy and governance expert who served as the 12th Silliman University (SU) president, lectures on public policy issues relating to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), food security, food safety, and biosafety.

Dr. Ben S. Malayang III, environmental policy and governance expert who served as the 12th Silliman University (SU) president, laid out public policy issues relating to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as food security, food safety, and biosafety in a lecture last March 9, 2020 at the Udarbe Memory Chapel.

In the lecture organized by the Justice and Peace Committee of the SU Church, Malayang presented both benefits and risks of GMOs as a technology for agriculture.

Rev. Dr. Noriel C. Capulong (right), Interim-Senior Pastor of SU Church, hands the Certificate of Appreciation to Malayang.

“I presented what are being said in support of GMOs as being more beneficial than risky, as against questions being raised…about whether or not…it has more benefits than risks; that maybe it has benefits, but the risks are also at a level of unacceptability,” he said.

Questions presented by Malayang include who benefits from using GMOs and who experiences its risks, as a way of looking at the justice issues in using GMOs.

“To resolve these issues, we need to look at both the science as well as the social, cultural, commercial, and economic aspects of the issue. We’re trying to [dissect] it in the hope of informing and providing a basis for people to make an informed decision,” said Malayang.

The lecture was attended by students, church members, community leaders, and representatives from the Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental.

The lecture was attended by students, church members, community leaders, and representatives from the Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental.

Prof. Phoebe Tan, chair of the Justice and Peace Committee and Sociology Department faculty, said she invited students from her Contemporary World (GE 3) classes to attend the lecture for them to learn about global food security and sustainable development as part of their class discussion.