A Court Revoked Golden Rice Under A Writ Named After Nature
The Philippines became the first country to permit commercial propagation of a genetically modified rice. Then a court revoked the permit under something called a writ of kalikasan — a writ of nature.
The Bureau of Plant Industry issued the biosafety permit on 21 July 2021, for beta-carotene-enriched Golden Rice, developed with PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute to address vitamin A deficiency.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the farmer network MASIPAG petitioned against it. On 18 April 2023 the Philippine Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan — a constitutional environmental remedy available to citizens whose right to a balanced and healthful ecology is threatened on a scale crossing provinces — and sent the case down to the Court of Appeals for evidence.
The Court of Appeals promulgated its decision on 17 April 2024, siding with the petitioners and revoking the permits. An amended decision on 15 August 2024 narrowed the ban specifically to Golden Rice and Bt eggplant. The government petitioned the Supreme Court for review in October 2024.
As of November 2026 we could find no reported Supreme Court ruling, and the Court of Appeals revocation appears to stand. We are stating that carefully on purpose: absence of reporting is not the same as checking a docket, and this is a live case that could move after this page is written.
Two things we are being deliberate about. First, an earlier Philippine GMO case — decided in 2015 and reversed on mootness in 2016 — concerned Bt eggplant field trials and is legally a different matter; a surprising number of write-ups blur the two. Second, several sources credit the April 2024 decision to the Supreme Court. It was the Court of Appeals.
A separate development, which is not Golden Rice coming back: in 2026 the Bureau of Plant Industry approved an iron- and zinc-enriched GM rice called HIZ039 for commercial propagation. Different grain, different nutrient, same regulator, ongoing objections.
Sources
- Supreme Court of the Philippines, "SC Issues Writ of Kalikasan on Genetically Modified Rice and Eggplant Products" (G.R. No. 263595, MASIPAG v. Secretary of Agriculture).
- PhilRice, "PhilRice acknowledges Court of Appeals decision granting the writ of kalikasan against Golden Rice in the Philippines", April 2024.
- Rappler, "Court of Appeals stops propagation of genetically modified golden rice, eggplant."
- Philippine Daily Inquirer, "CA: Only Bt eggplant, Golden Rice covered by ruling banning GMOs" — on the 15 August 2024 amended decision.