President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday, August 17, that he would reorganize the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) this week as he seeks ways to address issues plaguing the sugar industry.
“We’ll reorganize the SRA and then we will come to an arrangement with the industrial consumers, with the planters, the millers, suppliers of the sugar to coordinate so whatever (sugar) is available is released to the market,” Marcos said in an interview in Manila.
Marcos met with political and sugar leaders, including those from Negros Occidental, to discuss the state of the sugar industry in at Malacañang 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“We had a very productive two hour meeting with the president to discuss the sugar importation problem and the issues surrounding the productivity of our farmers,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said.
Zubiri said he led a delegation of stakeholders from the farmers, millers, sugar workers and refiners to consult with the president on the issues of importation and productivity.
“We thanked the president for not allowing too much importation of sugar to the country that would have affected hundreds of thousands of local farmers and farm workers all over the country”, he said, referring to Sugar Order No. 4 that would have allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
“We however acknowledged the need to import a smaller amount for the industrial and household consumers, as the consensus using available data on the remaining demand was to import at only 150,000 MT,” Zubiri said.
There were other initiatives recommended to the president to ease the increase of sugar prices but they will let him make the announcement at the proper time, he added.
“What is important is that all the stakeholders came together to propose concrete short term and long term solutions on the sugar situation. We were looking for the ‘sweet spot’ between producers and consumerism”, Zubiri said.
He said they admired how the president truly wanted to bring down the cost of sugar and at the same time keep the farmers happy with prices acceptable to all.
“It was truly a productive meeting with hopeful solutions for the sector,” he added.
Among those present at the meeting from Negros Occidental were Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, Rep. Emilio Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District), Board Member Jose Benito Alonso, former Murcia mayor Esteban Coscolluela, Judge Enrique Barcelona, David and Rica Alba, Pablo Luis Azcona, Roberto Cuenca, Miguel Hinojales, William Chua, Florencio Alonso Jr., and Andy and Janet Gonzaga, Zubiri said.
Also present were Arnel Toreja -Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers Association president, Pablo Lobregat – Philippine Sugar Millers Association president, and Lance Gokongwei and Rene Cabati of Universal Robina Corporation.
The president, president told the media that, said that he would let the legislature investigate the sugar importation issue, stressing that his focus is addressing the challenges confronting food and beverage manufacturers.
He pointed out that there is a need to immediately address the problems hounding the industry to avert a looming sugar shortage, which may affect local sugar workers and their families.
“Because right now, they are starting to cut down the days of the week na nagtatrabaho (for work) and we are very worried of course about jobs,” he said.*