SRA board members Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag, and Acting Administrator David Alba take their oaths before Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer (l-r) on Wednesday,*
The 150,000 metric tons (MT) of imported refined sugar is expected to arrive in the Philippines before November 15, Acting Administrator David Alba of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said on Wednesday, August 24.
“The target date for the shipment to arrive should be before November 15. Why November 15? Because by that time, our refineries will be operational and we would have enough supply of sugar,” he said.
It was agreed during a Sugar Board meeting chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday that the importation would be covered by Sugar Order No. 2 but consultation with stakeholders on the mechanics will have to be conducted, Alba sad.
They have to determine how to divide the 150,000MT between the bottlers and the consumers, he said.
“What’s happening right now is there is a tightness in sugar, but it’s on the bottler’s grade” utilized by beverage firms, he said.
“It’s a special kind of sugar, it’s really white…The rest of the sugar, maybe there’s a little tightness, we don’t know yet because we have not conducted any survey, but it’s not critical because we still have sugar in our markets,” Alba said.
Alba, and SRA board members Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag took their oaths of office again before Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer at the SRA Training Center in Bacolod City, Wednesday afternoon.
Sugar industry leaders with Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Rep. Emilio Yulo (6th, 9th and 10th from left) at the opening of the 68th Philippine Sugar Technologists Association Inc. annual national convention at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City on Wednesday, August 24.*
They were also sworn in by the president in Malacañang on Monday.
Ferrer challenged the new SRA officials to show their aggressiveness in protecting the sugar industry.
“We have a hands on president with the heart to help the sugar industry and to listen to the concerns of the various planters groups,” he said.
Sugar industry leaders on Wednesday called for unity and aired their opposition to some proposals to abolish the SRA.*