In a move to dismantle decades of exclusion, a bill has been filed in the House of Representatives to include representatives of sugar field, sugar mill, and ethanol mill workers, consumer groups and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the Sugar Board.
House Bill No. 8376 filed Monday, March 9, seeks to amend the charter of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to expand the Sugar Board to give the workers, consumers and ARB beneficiaries their rightful voice in decision-making, Roland C. de la Cruz. president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said Tuesday.
The bill recommended by de la Cruz is authored by Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza (TUCP Partylist).
“It is a bold step toward dismantling decades of exclusion and ensuring that those who sweat and toil in the fields and mills are no longer sidelined,” de la Cruz said.
“This is a new dawn for the sugar industry… for too long, workers have been treated as invisible. With this bill, we are putting them at the center of the table where their sacrifices and struggles will shape the future of the industry,” Mendoza said.
“The sugar industry is built on the hard labor of its ARBs and workers. This victory is about justice, dignity, and power for the men and women who keep the industry alive. Their voices will no longer be ignored,” de la Cruz added.
By expanding the Sugar Board, the measure promises real representation, transparency, and accountability, ensuring that policies will reflect not just the interests of big producers, but also the rights and welfare of the ARBs, farmers, workers, and consumers who sustain the industry, he added.*
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