Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito said on Thursday, June 29, that government should conduct consultations and act with caution on the proposed import liberalization of sugar.
Sugar industry stakeholders on Tuesday, June 27, called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who concurrently serves as Secretary of Agriculture, to deny Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s proposal to liberalize sugar importation, saying it will destabilize the livelihood of thousands of marginal sugarcane farmers.
The proposal was intended to soften the impact of new taxes on food and beverages that contain sugar, Ejercito said.
However, “I believe that we should take caution in rushing this proposal. Further consultations and dialogs need to take place to address the deluge of complaints from the sugar industry,” the senator said.
They must first study all possible implications of the proposal and ensure a win-win solution for all stakeholders, Ejercito said.
“We have yet to see the full implementation of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act and Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act,” he said, which he principally sponsored during his first term in the Senate.
“These laws were intended to protect the sugar planters and promote the growth of our local sugar industry,” he said.
In fact, he has filed amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, aware of new and emerging forms of economic sabotage within the agricultural sector, Ejercito said.
“I personally think that there is no better time for different sectors to work together in strengthening our sugar industry and our agricultural sector at large,” he said.
The fact that the president himself heads the Department of Agriculture speaks of his administration’s “unwavering commitment to our farmers and producers,” Ejercito said.
“Liberalization will be the final nail in the coffin of the country’s ailing sugar industry,” Danilo Ramos, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairperson, said on Tuesday.
Manuel Lamata – United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) president, Enrique Rojas – National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) president, Aurelio Valderrama Jr. – Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations (CONFED) president and KMP in separate statements on Tuesday opposed the proposed import liberalization.
UNIFED is hoping that the President will not endorse this plan which was never even done in consultation with the sugar industry, Lamata said.
“Diokno is clearly anti-farmer,” Lamata said.
Rojas said allowing manufacturers of sweetened beverages to directly import sugar will wreak havoc on the long-established government regulations over the sugar industry, and it will further destabilize the livelihood of thousands of marginal sugarcane farmers.*