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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...

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, Vice Governor Jose Benito Alonso, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, UNIFED president Manuel Lamata and Sugar Board Member David Sanson (l-r) meet at the Governor’s Office Tuesday afternoon.*Sugar industry leaders met with Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jose Benito Alonso on Tuesday, Jan. 20, to seek the provincial government’s support for the campaign to curb the entry of artificial sweeteners.The industry is specifically targeting the rise of sucralose, which has significantly dampened domestic sugar consumption among large-scale manufacturers, Sugar Regulatory Administrator (SRA) Pablo Luis Azcona said.Azcona, who was accompanied by Sugar Board Member David Sanson and United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED...

The activity aims to gather key stakeholders to discuss the pressing challenges faced by the sugar industry.*Roonie Baldonado file photoThe  joint  public consultation by the Senate and  House Representatives “on the significant decline in millgate sugar prices” in Negros Occidental will be held at the Padre Pio Hall of  Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay from 9 a.m.  to 4 p.m. Friday,  Jan. 23. The consultation will be led by Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform Chairperson Sen. Kiko Pangilinan and House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairperson Rep. Mark Enverga. It will be hosted by  Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez  (Neg. Occ., 3rd&nbs...

Nic Ledesma file photoThe leaders and representatives of small farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and allied sectors under the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council on Monday, Jan. 19, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to remove Dave Sanson from the Sugar Board. “We demand, in no uncertain terms, the immediate removal of Mr. Sanson from the Sugar Board. His continued tenure is an affront to justice and an insult to the labor and farmers movement,” a press release from Anthony John Demisana, secretary general of the NACUSIP Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council, and Roland de la Cruz, NACUSIP-TUCP national president, said. “We issue an urgent call to President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos: act decis...

Sanson is patting himself on the back for the recent P20 to P30 average increase in mill gate prices, the Sugar Council said.*Ronnie Baldonado file photoThe Sugar Council on Monday, Jan. 19, said it has always worked for unity within the sugar industry, and has continuously signified its willingness to collaborate with the Sugar Regulatory Administration to come up with viable and sustainable solutions to the problems hounding the industry.     Numerous communications of the Sugar Council to the Sugar Board attest to that, a press release from the Sugar Council said.  Dave Sanson, who sits in the Sugar Board as planters representative, on Sunday called for unity among from all stakeholders. “But Sanson’s idea of unity is unity at their own terms, which means for stakeholders to swallow...

Sugar Board Member David Sanson*Sugar Board Member David Sanson, representing the planters, is calling on sugar farmers, particularly the federations to unite and work for a long term solution that will address production, pricing, marketing, and other challenges facing the sugar industry. “We are grateful that prices of sugar and molasses are going up since last week with the northern mills showing significant increases and we hope that the southern mills will soon follow the trend,” Sanson said in a press statement on Sunday, Jan. 18. Last week’s bidding price has gone up to P2,300-P2,400 per 50Lkg with molasses breaching P9,000 per ton after more than three months of being in the P2,100-P2,200 level. Much of this can be attributed to the export program approved by the Sugar Board, Sa...

The MassKara dancers at the Sinulog in Cebu.*BCCO photoThe MassKara Dancers from Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, wowed crowds at the 2026 Sinulog Festival’s street dancing showdown held in Cebu City on Sunday, January 18.Sixty dancers and over 100 propsmen paraded from Mango Avenue to the Cebu City Sports Complex, infusing the event with vivid color and energy, a press release from the Bacolod City Communications Office said.The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) estimates around 2.5 million spectators attended the celebration.Barangay Tangub Punong Barangay Noli Villarosa expressed pride in the group’s performance and the warm welcome they received. “I was happy seeing how Cebu enjoyed the performance, and our MassKara dancers really did well,...

JALASIG president Hernando Y. Divinagracia Jr.*The Confederation of Sugarcane Producers Association Inc. (CONFED), the country’s leading federation in sugar production, announced on Sunday, Jan. 18, that it has welcomed the Jalasig Sugarcane Planters Association Inc. into its roster of member-associations.A total of four associations joined CONFED in 2025 and 2026, of which Jalasig is the latest.Until recently, Jalasig, which is based in Passi City, Illoilo, has not been affiliated with any federation. Yet, it has proven itself a progressive association. Based on SRA Circular Letter No. 11, Series of 2025-2026, of the total production of non-affiliated associations in Panay in Crop Year 2024-2025, Jalasig delivered over half of it, a CONFFED press release said.At last count...