The Sugar Council and two labor groups on Monday, August 17, pledged their full participation in the newly created National Anti-RSSI (Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect) Ad Hoc Committee in the hope that it will finally provide solutions to one of the worsening problems of the sugar industry.
The Sugar Council, composed of the Confederation of Sugarcane Producers Associations Inc. (CONFED), National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED), announced its participation along with the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) and Democratic Association of Labor Organizations (DALO).
The creation of this ad hoc committee is a direct testament to the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) continuing failure to control the devastating RSSI pest infestation and other issues besetting the industry, the Sugar Council said in a press statement.
“We extend our deepest appreciation to First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos for personally visiting Bacolod on August 14 to assess the plight of farmers, workers, and agrarian reform beneficiaries,” it said.
“As the coalition representing over two-thirds of national sugar production, the Sugar Council—along with NACUSIP and DALO—is fully supportive of the programs of the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. We thank the President for allowing the First Lady to visit Bacolod and discuss with stakeholders the pressing concerns involving the sugar industry,” it added.
They also thanked Deputy House Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District), and former senator Mar Roxas for facilitating the dialogue with the First Lady and “demonstrating their unwavering support for the industry.”
“To rectify the systemic mismanagement of the sector, we strongly back the legislative expansion of the Sugar Board—the governing body of the SRA. We demand that this policy-making body be expanded to include seats for small farmers, workers, and agrarian reform beneficiaries. The voices of the actual tillers must be heard,” the statement said.
The board—which includes SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, Planters’ Representative David Andrew Sanson, and Millers’ Representative Ma. Mitzi Mangwag—has failed terribly in managing the affairs of the industry. The composition of the Sugar Board must be replaced, it added.
The issues that are crippling the sugar industry are beyond politics, the statement said.
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