BACOLOD CITY — Sugar industry leaders lauded the move of the 10 senators to support their campaign against the proposed liberalization of sugar imports.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a resolution urging the Executive Department not to pursue the plan to liberalize the sugar industry to safeguard the economy and welfare of sugar farmers and workers in 28 provinces in the country, including Negros Occidental.
Sugar Regulatory Administration Board Member Emilio Yulo III, who represents the planters, expressed his thanks to the senators who closed ranks with them.
He said the support shows that the senators understand the plight of the sugar industry and its stakeholders, adding that the Senate has always been their ally when it comes to protecting the industry.
Sugar sold in retail at a supermarket in Bacolod City.
Photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver
“We know that the battle is far from over but this Senate resolution gives us a glimmer of hope that not all is lost,” Yulo said.
The Confederation of Sugar Producers (Confed) also welcomed the development, saying the senators are right in stressing that the planned liberalization of the economic managers can lead to the demise of the sugar industry.
Confed spokesperson Raymond Montinola said in a statement the lawmakers righteously pointed out that the measure can result in a tumultuous peace and order situation.
Montinola said the senators who pushed for the resolution have been with the industry in the last three years from the time of the fight against the entry of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to the sugar taxation.
“Again, we are facing the threat of liberalization. That is also why we should always remember who our allies are and who has our backs,” he added.
Montinola also said the sugar industry will continue to be vigilant and seek the intervention of President Rodrigo Duterte to ensure that the plans of the economic managers will never be implemented.
The Senate resolution was introduced and adopted by 10 legislators, including Senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Nancy Binay, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda, Aquilino Pimentel III, Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villar and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
The resolution cited reports that economic managers proposed the sugar import liberalization due to high prices of local sugar against those in the world market and that the same affects the competitiveness of sugar-containing food products for exports.
“The deregulated entry of subsidized sugar in the Philippine market will be disastrous to our sugar industry which contributes about PHP96 billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” the resolution stated.
It aded that the sugar industry comprises some 84,000 farmers, mostly small ones and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), and 720,000 industry workers directly affecting almost a million families or five million individuals.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had earlier said there is a need to “relax” the rules on importation that puts pressure on the domestic economy to compete with the rest of the world.*
Stories from the Sugarlandia 