The Sugar Council, in collaboration with its two partner labor groups, on Tuesday, August 25, said it appreciates the announcement of Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. that sugar importations will be enough for what the country needs — “not more, not less”.
“This, in essence, is what the sugar industry has been asking for: an importation program that is properly calibrated and timely, and based on a transparent analysis of actual domestic production, consumption and inventory,” their joint statement said.
The Sugar Council represents the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED), National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PanayFed), and its labor group partners are the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) and the Democratic Association of Labor Organizations (DALO).
“While the Secretary’s commitment is most welcome, we need to draw lessons from the recent past and identify the ‘fixes’ needed to avoid making the same mistakes,” they said in a joint statement.
They pointed out that ill-timed and excessive importation caused precipitous drops in millgate prices, costing billions of pesos in foregone revenues for affected industry stakeholders.
“The damage is real. Farmers and sugar mills have yet to recover,” they said.
Sadly, repeated warnings about the consequences of over-importation were largely ignored, and corrective action came only after prices had already collapsed and billions were already lost, they added.
The current decision-making process provided limited opportunity for stakeholder participation, presented no data analysis to support the decisions made, and did not thoroughly analyze the consequences, the joint statement said.
They called for the institutionalization of a comprehensive, inclusive, and bottoms-up consultative process, clarify the policy framework and define the importation formula to avoid passage of policies detrimental to the industry.
RSSI ADDS TO INDUSTRY WOES
When the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) was detected as early as 2022 and hit vast areas in Crop Year (CY) 2025-2026, the Sugar Council and two labor groups said they called for urgent measures to arrest the infestation.
The pest, unfortunately, spread faster than the solutions provided by government, they said.
“We thus appreciate government’s announcement of a 2027 funding allocation for laboratories and biological control facilities to combat RSSI,” the added.
EFFECTIVE MEASURES NEEDED
But stressed that that more effective measures are needed now, before milling resumes in October 2026.
They said the unfolding of a disturbing pattern that cannot be ignored:
- Over-importation — prices plunge; action comes after the damage
- RSSI — tonnage drops; action taken after the infestation has spread
- Falling production — the industry absorbs the losses and bears the consequences
- SIDA – “accomplishment” reports focus on outputs, not positive outcomes
- Sugar Policy – inflicts serious damage, yet provides little meaningful consultation
The alliance outlined four critical areas requiring immediate reform:
1. To understand what has happened, a full, transparent and independent accounting of the decisions behind sugar importations is called for. Who recommended the volumes? What production and inventory figures were used? Who approved the decisions? Were those decisions justified by actual market conditions? Make it public for transparency!
Lessons learned: Inappropriate volumes and timing of importation have far-reaching pricing and survival consequences on industry stakeholders.
The Fix: A data-based and predictable importation formula that determines proper timing, volume and rules covering sugar imports, in consultation with stakeholders.
- An accounting of the government’s response to RSSI is likewise necessary. When was the threat first identified? When did government receive warnings? What actions were taken in response, and why did the infestation reach calamitous levels before government could respond with more appropriate measures? How much has been spent and where?
Lessons learned: Science, research, timeliness and coordination are critical to the success of any pest and disease control program. The responses to date have allowed the problem to reach calamitous levels. Government interventions— aerial spraying, deployment of drones and power sprayers, chemicals, fertilizers and ayuda— have failed to adequately control the infestation or mitigate its impact. Associations, sugar mills, LGUs, private institutions and individual planters have thus resorted to separate emergency measures.
The Fix: A collective and coordinated effort is needed: proactive, properly funded, organized and staffed to anticipate, prevent and effectively address the infestation.
- A performance review of SIDA [Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015] programs is needed to measure outcomes. Have they or have they not improved the industry’s productivity and competitiveness?
Lessons learned: SIDA programs have not increased productivity, and inefficient program management actually led to the loss of government funding support for SIDA.
The Fix: SIDA amendments as proposed in the TUBO Bill [Tunay na Ugnayan, Buhay, at Oportunidad sa Asukal Act of 2026]
- Have Sugar Policies and Programs demonstrated SRA’s successful exercise of its mandate under EO18 and the Sugarcane Industry Roadmap?
Lessons learned: The SRA has fallen short of accomplishing its mandate: the industry is in crisis, unstable prices benefit neither producers nor consumers, and the industry’s productivity levels have declined. The self-declared vision and goals of the Sugarcane Industry Roadmap have remained mostly forgotten and unrealized.
The Fix: Amend EO 18 to strengthen SRA’s regulatory and development mandate, expand the Sugar Board’s composition to enhance transparency and stakeholder participation, reengineer its organizational structure to improve SIDA implementation, and hold the Sugar Board accountable. Revise the Roadmap to address today’s challenges and market realities.
ANSWERS ARE NEEDED
The answers they seek are not about looking for someone to blame for the sake of blame. It is about protecting our industry from the same failures happening again. It is about creating an environment conducive to stability and long-term sustainability, they said.
“We thus appreciate Secretary Laurel’s latest pronouncement and sincerely hope it represents a fundamental change in how sugar policy is determined, and how the industry is managed from hereon,” they added.
Relief measures without corrective policy and concrete solutions cannot erase the consequences of yesterday’s decisions, they said.
“Farmers, millers and workers – the entire sugar industry – have all paid the price. But ayuda for distressed farmers and farm workers cannot replace real solutions—sound policies and programs— that will allow them to recover, survive the current challenges, and restore their viability, now and in the future.,” they said.
“The industry needs a transparent, consultative, proactive and accountable government able to forge a sustainable path for the sugarcane industry of the future”, they added.
“Without the needed changes, we may no longer be talking about just another year of losses in the billions, but a continuing decline and possible demise of an industry that has sustained generations of stakeholders and their dependents,” they said.*
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