Business

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (second from right) at Congress' public consultation on the sugar industry last week*Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is calling on the national government to protect the local sugar industry and public health amid the increasing importation of artificial sweeteners.The sugar industry of Negros Occidental continues to face serious pressures that call for thoughtful and balanced policy responses, Lacson said in a statement issued Monday, Jan. 26.“As the country’s major sugar-producing province, we are particularly concerned about recent developments in the local sugar and sweetener market and their implications on economic sustainability, consumer protection, and public health”, he said.“We respectfully stress the importance of balanced reg...

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin and Mayor Greg Gasataya (2nd and 3rd from left) after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement witnessed by Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office head Allyn Luv Dignadice on Monday.*The Bacolod City government and the Department of Energy have taken a major step toward sustainable urban development with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Waste-to-Energy (WTE) development, along with the launch of the “Solar Solutions for Government: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Public Buildings” program on Monday, Jan 26.The solar program aims to institutionalize energy efficiency in the public sector by deploying technologies such as light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems, inverter-type air-conditioning units, smart m...

Ronnie Baldonado file photoCiting a crisis of transparency within the industry, sugar workers and small-scale farmers have formally petitioned the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to release the minutes of meetings involving controversial sugar orders.The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP) and the NACUSIP Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council in a letter Monday, Jan. 26, requested full disclosure from Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel and Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona of the minutes of Sugar Order No. 8 (Series of 2025), as well as Sugar Orders No. 2 and 3 (Series of 2026).The request follows a public consultation held on January 23, where stak...

Rep. Manuel Frederick Ko, Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Senator Francis Pangilinan, Rep. Mark Enverga, Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson. Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer and Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (l-r)   at the public consultation.*   If low millgate sugar prices remain unchecked, losses in revenues to the sugar industry could exceed P20 billion by June 2026, Rafael Coscolluela, former Sugar Regulatory Administrator, said on Friday, Jan. 23. Coscolluela was one of a battery of speakers from planters, millers, and labor groups who spoke at a public consultation on the decline in sugar prices led by Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform chairperson Sen. Francis Pangilinan and House Committee on Agriculture and ...

The Panay farmers protesting in Passi, Iloilo, on Thursday.* About 1,000 farmers from 14 planters associations in Panay Island held a protest rally against low sugar and molasses prices in Passi City, Iloilo, on Thursday, Jan. 22, ahead of the congressional hearing on the plight of sugar industry on Friday.Sugar leaders are hoping something good will come out of the joint Senate and House inquiry on the decline in millgate sugar at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.“I hope something good will come out from it that will help the sugar industry survive,” Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said.“For the record UNIFED hopes they will act on its request to pass a bill enforcing crop loans from all banks so that the farmer...

The inauguration of the slaughterhouse in Brgy. Alegria, Murcia.* Richard Malihan photoNegros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson inaugurated the P55 million Municipal Abattoir in Brgy. Alegria, Murcia, on Thursday, Jan. 22, marking a significant upgrade to the town’s agricultural infrastructure.The state-of-the-art slaughterhouse was designed to ensure the sanitary processing of livestock, safeguarding public health by meeting national food safety standards and improving the quality of meat products, the governor said.The project was implemented through the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), with shared funding from the World Bank, the national government, and the provincial government of Negros Occidental.The establishment of the...

Tinagong Dagat within Mount Mandalagan inside the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP) as shown during the dry season. *Photo courtesy of NNNP/Aaron PitogoThe Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will allow trekkers to visit the popular Tinagong Dagat within the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP) from Jan. 22 to Feb. 15, before its temporary closure starting Feb. 16.In an advisory on Thursday, Protected Area Superintendent Ma. Gina Consolacion Gerangaya said applications for mountaineering permits to Danao/Tinagong Dagat will be accepted at the NNNP-Protected Area Management Office satellite site at the DENR compound in Barangay 39 in this city.Interested individuals or organized groups may submit their applications, she added.“Tinagong Dagat shall be plac...

The NACUSIP ARBC press conference.*A coalition of small-scale sugar farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), and workers in the sugarcane and ethanol industries called for an end to sugar importation ahead of a congressional hearing at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City this Friday.During a press conference held by the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council (NACUSIP ARBC) in Bacolod City on Wednesday, Jan. 21, the group also demanded the immediate removal of David Sanson from the Sugar Board.A joint public consultation by the Senate and House of Representatives on the significant decline in millgate sugar prices will be held at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, from 9 a.m. t...