The Philippine sugar industry is at the center of a heated debate as advocacy groups warn of potential collapse due to policies on imported sugar, while government regulators strongly refute the claims as baseless.
Industry Group Sounds Alarm on Import Threats
The Save the Sugar Industry Movement (Save-Sim) has urgently called on the National Government to reconsider the potential impacts of a sugar import liberalization scheme. The group's convenor, Wennie Sancho, stated that continuously falling millgate prices, attributed to such liberalization, pose a severe threat to sugar producers in the Negros Island Region and across the nation.
Sancho emphasized that implementing the policy without proper safeguards could devastate the industry. He warned this would cause widespread economic hardship for hundreds of thousands of sugar workers and their families. He stressed that timely government intervention is critical to prevent harm and ensure the sector's sustainability.
The group's key demands include:
- A thorough assessment of the policy's impact on local economies.
- Support programs for affected workers and their families.
- Measures to enhance the local industry's competitiveness.
Sancho called for a united front among all sugar stakeholders. "In solidarity, we should vehemently express our opposition to the unrestricted entry of imported and subsidized sugar. It would be disastrous," he asserted, arguing it could lead to the death of local sugar production.
Government Regulator Counters: "A Blatant Lie"
Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona issued a sharp rebuttal, dismissing Sancho's warnings as misinformation. Azcona stated he did not know where Sancho obtained his information, suggesting it might be "a figment of his imagination." He cautioned that such unverified claims could agitate an already volatile market.
Azcona accused certain "so-called sugar leaders" of sabotaging the SRA's efforts to stabilize prices. He expressed frustration that these same figures criticize the government while asking for its help to buy sugar from farmers. "Worse, these so-called sugar leaders are asking the President and the National Government to start buying sugar to help the farmers and yet are quick to criticize government in a blink," he said.
The SRA chief challenged Sancho to provide evidence for his claims about unrestricted sugar imports. "My challenge to him is to provide us with the basis of these claims so we too in SRA may be informed of such," Azcona added. He noted the last major liberalization move was around 2016 and was successfully opposed by the industry.
Seeking Solutions Amidst Low Prices and Disasters
Azcona explained that the SRA and the Department of Agriculture have been conducting dialogues with industry stakeholders, including traders, to find ways to assist planters. These farmers are suffering from low sugar prices compounded by the devastation of successive natural disasters.
He clarified that the current downtrend in sugar prices is caused by multiple factors and is definitely not due to government-allowed over-importation, as some claim. Azcona welcomed a potential congressional inquiry to put the factual causes of low prices on record, stating some stakeholders are "hard of hearing and accepting the facts other than their own."
This controversy unfolds as other major industry groups, like the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, have expressed support for calls urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to enact concrete measures to raise domestic sugar and molasses prices.
