Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, July 10, that he has no problem with the importation of an additional 150,000 MT of sugar as long as domestic millgate prices do not go below P3,000 per lkg.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration last week issued Sugar Order No. 7 authorizing the importation of an additional 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to ensure that the country has a buffer stock.
Lacson said a lot of planters were happy with the sugar millgate prices that really went up during the first crop year under the Marcos administration.
He hopes the Negrenses in the SRA can maintain those millgate prices, Lacson said.
Negrense Pablo Luis Azcona is the acting SRA administrator and David Andrew Sanson is the planters’ representative to the sugar board.
“Our benchmark is really the last crop year price of sugar that made a lot of sugar farmers happy. I hope they can maintain the P3,000 raw millgate prices,” Lacson said.*