Business

Jun292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

‘It can kill our industry’: Over 200 farmers mobilize against devastating sugar pest

Tonette Ramos, SRA Administrator Paul Azcona, UNIFED Vice President Joseph Edgar Sarrosa and Dino Gutierrez (l-r)discuss RSSI protocols.* UNIFED photoWarning that a massive insect infestation could "kill" the sugar industry on Negros Island responsible for over 60 percent of the country’s production, the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) mobilized more than 200 farmers Monday, June 29, for an emergency management forum.The Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) Infestation Management and Stakeholders Forum, organized in collaboration with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), was held at Nature’s Village Resort to address what leaders call a mounting regional crisis, a UNIFED press release said.UNIFED President Manuel Lamata emphasized the gravity of the situation, ...

Jun292026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

ALCPI, URC partner with SRA to fight insect infestation

Business

The largest independent planter’s group, Asociacion de Agricultures de la Carlota y Pontevedra Inc. (AALCPI) and the Universal Robina Corporation (URC) mills in Kabankalan and La Carlota cities gave their commitment help the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) fight the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation in Negros, an SRA press release said Monday, June 29.Former SRA Administrator and AALCPI Manager Dave Alba along with URC SURE Managing Director Rene Cabati, URC CAC head Mario Palma, URC Sonedco Christy Azuro, and La Carlota Mill District Development Chair (MDDC) Florencio Alonso, sat down with SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona and Board Member Ma. Mitzi Mangwag at the SRA Quezon City office, with Board Member David Andrew Sanson present online, on Thursday to discu...

Jun282026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

UNIFED lauds DA, SRA for strengthening laws vs, molasses importation, RSSI

Business, Top Stories

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona and UNIFED President Manuel Lamata (right) at a recent meeting at the Capitol on the fight against RSSI.*The United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) thanked the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Board for finally closing a loophole on the use of imported molasses—which was detrimental to the sugar industry—through Sugar Order No. 4.“This was an oversight that could have killed the industry had it not been amended,” UNIFED President Manuel Lamata said in a press release Sunday, June 27. He added that they find it “strange” that “despite two amendments to Sugar Order No. 14, Series of 2008-2009, no one bothered to correct Section 6 that allowed the importation of products derived from sugarcane and sugar as fee...

Jun272026 by Judy F. PartlowNo Comments

More red-striped soft scale insect infestation reported in NegOr

Business, Top Stories

The municipality of Mabinay in Negros Oriental reported that about 600 hectares of sugarcane plantations have been infested by the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), the sap-sucking pest that attaches to the underside of sugarcane leaves and weakens the crop.Mayor Ernie Uy disclosed on Thursday that seven villages in Mabinay have been affected, with personnel from the Sugar Regulatory Administration already conducting chemical spraying operations to contain the spread.He added that RSSI cases have also been reported in Bais City, Bayawan City, and the municipalities of Bindoy and Ayungon.According to Uy, the provincial government has dispatched assessment teams to the affected areas to determine the extent of the damage.Governor Manuel Sagarbarria committed to provide ch...

Jun262026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Free annual preventive health screening program for seniors, PWDs pushed

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A proposed ordinance institutionalizing a free annual preventive health screening and early disease detection program for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) has taken its first legislative step after receiving approval on First Reading before the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City, Councilor Caesar Distrito said Friday, June 26.The measure was principally authored by Distrito, with Councilors Celia Flor, Dindo Ramos, and Al Victor Espino as co-authors.The proposed “Bacolod Preventive Health Screening and Early Disease Detection Program for Senior Citizens and PWDs Ordinance of 2026” seeks to establish a comprehensive preventive healthcare program under the City Health Office (CHO), providing qualified beneficiaries with free annual health screening services ai...

Jun262026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

NACUSIP demands audit of SRA’s ₱206.4-M RSSI fund, seeks congressional probe, Malacañang intervention on sugar industry crisis

Business, Top Stories

The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP)—the country’s largest national federation of sugarcane plantation workers and mill laborers—is demanding a full independent audit of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) ₱206.4-million campaign to contain the Red-Striped Soft-Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation, citing a “catastrophic institutional failure to manage the worsening pest outbreak”."The SRA’s response to containing the RSSI is not just a failure, it has become completely useless," Roland de la Cruz, national president of NACUSIP-TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines), said in a press release Friday, June 26.NACUSIP is calling for an urgent congressional inquiry into SRA’s “mismanagement of the worsening sugar industry crisis”,...

Jun252026 by Nanette GuadalquiverNo Comments

Negrense student, kin get support from DSWD after stabbing incident

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The Social Welfare and Development-Negros Occidental Team of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region visit the Grade 9 student injured in a stabbing incident in San Carlos at t the city hospital, in the presence of his parents, on Wednesday *DSWD-NIR photoThe Grade 9 student injured in a stabbing incident in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, and his family have received psychosocial support and financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region (DSWD-NIR).In a report on Thursday, June 25, the agency said its Social Welfare and Development (SWAD)-Negros Occidental Team, led by social welfare officer Mary Katherine Rico, visited the minor victim at the San Carlos City Hospital on Wednesday.“As part of th...

Jun252026 by Digicast NegrosNo Comments

Bacolod SP pushes for stricter implementation of anti-bullying ordinance

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Designed by VecteezyThe Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) of Bacolod has approved a resolution urging concerned agencies and educational institutions to intensify the implementation of Bacolod City’s Anti-Bullying Ordinance, Councilor Caesar Distrito said on Thursday, June 25.Authored by Distrito and co-authored by Councilors Danna Marie Barzo, Celia Flor, and Pao Sy, the resolution calls for reinforced child protection and school safety measures across all campuses in the city.The measure was prompted by a recent tragic school violence incident in Tacloban City, which has sparked nationwide discussions on bullying, youth violence, mental health, and campus safety.While recognizing that the investigation into that incident is still ongoing, the Bacolod City Council emphasized tha...

Jun252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

CONFED questions SRA’s over ₱200M RSSI response as Negros crop infestation widens

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Technical personnel of Tolong Mill District together with farmers affected by RSSI in Brgy. Sto. Nino, Tanjay City, Negros Oriental.*SRA photoThe Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc. (CONFED) on Thursday, June 25, raised concerns over the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) response to the Red Scale Soft Insect (RSSI) infestation on Negros Island, stating that its status report offers no assurance that the situation is under control and that adequate measures are in place to prevent further damage.In a statement released Thursday, June 25 CONFED called for a more effective anti-RSSI campaign, questioning both the accuracy of government data and the utilization of over ₱200 million to battle the infestation.The SRA reported that approximately 76,607...

Jun252026 by Carla P. GomezNo Comments

Agriculture chief bans feedstock imports for bioethanol to protect local sugar industry

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Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. *Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered the halt to the importation of feedstock — including molasses, sugar, sugarcane, and sugar syrups — for bioethanol production to protect the domestic sugar industry and local farmers.Laurel, in Sugar Order No.4, Series of 2025-2026 dated May 22 but released to the media Thursday, June 25, said the directive introduces a strict prohibition to correct a long-standing policy gap.The amendment explicitly addresses loopholes found in the original Sugar Order No. 14, Series of 2008-09, which had previously allowed for the importation of molasses, sugar, sugarcane, and sugar syrups for use as feedstock in manufacturing bioethanol ...