Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, April 29, pledged to push for government sugar buying to address the current oversupply and for Senate action on the demands raised by Negros sugar workers, small farmers, and agrarian reform beneficiaries.
The proposed “Purchase and Park Program” seeks to reduce the volume of “imported sugar” currently saturating the market, which stakeholders blame for the drastic drop in millgate prices.
Hontiveros has filed Senate Resolution 298, directing the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform to conduct an inquiry into the challenges facing the sugar industry.
The probe will include a performance review of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and tackle amendments to the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA), she said.
Four decades after the death of Joel Abong, the plight of the sugar worker has barely improved, Hontiveros said, referring to the iconic symbol of Negros famine in the 1980s.
The Senator met with members of the Negros Sugar Workers Forum—representing thousands of agricultural workers, small planters, and Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs)—at Mayfair Plaza in Bacolod City.
During the forum, the groups presented a position paper outlining the following demands:
*Repeal of Pro-Importation Policies: A mandate to terminate “import replenishment” schemes and trade deals that prioritize importers over local producers.
*Democratization of the SRA: An amendment to Executive Order No. 18 to grant genuine representation to ARBs, small planters, and mill workers within the SRA board.
*Price Stability Intervention: The establishment of a state trading entity to act as a “buyer of last resort,” guaranteeing a floor price that covers production costs.
*Debt Relief: A one-year moratorium on loan principals, interests, and penalties owed by ARBs and cooperatives to government financial institutions like Landbank.
*Social Safety Nets: The expansion of employment programs (such as TUPAD) specifically for the tiempo muerto (dead season) and direct grants for crop diversification.
* Legislative Review: An overhaul of outdated or poorly implemented laws, including the SIDA), the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), and the Department of Agrarian Reform’s Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (DAR SPLIT) program, to ensure food security and labor dignity.
“We call on all members of the Senate and Congress to make a definitive choice: stand with the sugar farming families and workers who build this industry, or be exposed as protectors of the favored cartels who thrive in secrecy,” the position paper stated.
The position paper was signed by representatives of the National Federation of Sugar Workers, Tib-ong Obreros Farm Workers Federation, Kilusang Mayo Uno Negros, Partido Manggagawa Negros, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Organisasyon sang Mangunguma sa Negros, Akbayan Negros, DAMMMBA, Women’s Day Off, Negros Workers Development Center Inc, Fair Trade Philippines Network and Bunyog Partylist Negros.
Also in attendance were former Negros Occidental Governor Rafael Coscolluela who outlined the concerns and needs of the sugar industry, and Bacolod Councilor Celia Flor.*
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