We thank the Philippines region not only for their initiative in hosting this conference but also for their generous hospitality. In closing we offer the wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the South Pacific for all to ponder:
“With your food basket and my food basket, the family will not go hungry.”

Brian Gore, Philippines
Conrad Esemple, Luzon
Lydio J Mangao, Negros
Paulo Bale, Fiji,
Michael Gormly, New Zealand,
Pat McMullan, Korea
Amy Woolam Echeverria, USA,
Gloria Canama, Pakistan,
Charles Rue, Australia,
Anne Lanyon, Australia.

Columban delegates attending the conference only:

Frank Carey CELL
Dominic Nolan, CELL
Kyung-Ja Lee (Christina) LM Philippines
Seon-Young Son (Catharina) LM Philippines

2. International Conference on
SAFE FOOD: YOUR HUMAN RIGHT
Dec. 9 – 10, 2005
Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DECLARATION ON
SAFE FOOD AND SAFE PLANET

RECOGNIZING that access to safe food is a basic human right that is encompassed in all the Human Rights Conventions to which all nations of the world have ratified and which now must be implemented to the full in the basic policies of all governments;

CONSCIOUS of the need to create a safer and healthier planet which is a necessity for us now in light of destructive effects of climate change and economic globalization and which would serve as our important legacy and responsibility to future generations;

BELIEVING that as stewards of the Earth we are ultimately responsible to respect and protect the integrity of Life and not to tamper with nature and destroy it with unsafe and destructive technologies, such as genetic modified organisms (GMOs);

ALARMED by the increasing evidence on the ill-effects of genetically modified organisms including recent GMO feeding studies such as those in Russia involving herbicide tolerant soya and in Australia involving transgenic peas both of which clearly show adverse health effects of GMOs on animals that could potentially be manifested in humans;