The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said on Thursday, Sept. 26, that sugar farmers and stakeholders are delighted following the import clearance fee hike for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
This came after the SRA acted on the low import charge for HFCS set at P1.50 per 50-kilogram equivalent, following a sugar stakeholders meeting with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Aug. 6.
“The farmers and the millers are all happy because if you notice, for the last five years sugar demand is not increasing which is unexplainable because the population in the Philippines is increasing,” SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona said during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.
Sugar usage is not increasing due to the rising demand for HFCS as an alternative, which was deemed “less healthy” as it comes in either syrup or powder form, he said.
“The farmers and millers are very happy because the government is helping them.”
The SRA moved to bring back the P30 import clearance fee per 50-kg bag of HFCS implemented last February 2017 but was suddenly dropped to P1.50 a month later.
“We were tasked immediately by Secretary Laurel to look into it and while looking into it we noticed that the charges, which used to be P30, were dropped to P1.50. So, immediately the Sugar Board decided to put it back to P30 as a start,” Azcona said, citing an ongoing investigation on the matter.
“We’ve been looking through the minutes of the Sugar Board and everything but we cannot find yet the reason. It has been seven to eight years back, so we’re going through a lot of paperwork,” he added.
Besides the fee hike on imported HFCS, the SRA is also looking into other “sugar substitutes” that are “chemically-contained.”
FARM CONSOLIDATION
Azcona, meanwhile, highlighted SRA’s efforts to consolidate farmers into cooperatives to increase the sector’s yield and profit.
“So far, we’ve consolidated about 260 block farms, ang tawag natin (what we call them). So, this amounts to about 10,600 hectares,” he said.
The 260 block farms involve around 7,700 sugar farmers, with around P5 million worth of assistance per block farm.
“Half of that is pera pampuhunan (money capital), startup capital; half of that is equipment, so masaya naman po (they are happy),” Azcona said.
Through this, he said farmers were able to increase their yield by around five to 10 tons per hectare or equivalent to a 10 to 20 percent production hike.
Azcona said the yield hike translated farmers’ profit from around P58,000 annual gain to around P150,000 to P175,000.
“It’s about three-fold. So, they earn maybe almost 12 to 15,000 a month,” he said, citing a previous monthly income of around P4,400.
To date, Azcona said 85 percent of the 380,000-hectare sugar industry is yet to be consolidated.*PNA