Writ of kalikasan and science: Is the risk from GMOs or from judicial activism?

THE Supreme Court recently issued a writ of kalikasan in the form of a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) against the commercial production and sales of Golden Rice and Bt eggplant, both of which are considered to be genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are plants whose genetic makeup is altered by inserting non-plant genes.

Golden Rice, for example, is produced by inserting genes from corn and from soil bacteria, while the eggplant in question uses genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), hence its name Bt eggplant.