The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has intensified its call for the immediate overhaul of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), citing an “avalanche” of imported sugar and unregulated substitutes as proof of the agency’s failure to protect local producers.
House Deputy Speaker and TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza is pushing for the urgent passage of House Bill No. 8376, which seeks to democratize the SRA Board by institutionalizing seats for workers, farmers, and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
The move comes as the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) spearheads a massive signature campaign demanding the resignation of the entire current SRA Board.
Mendoza said that the SRA’s current three-member leadership structure is too narrow to address the complex challenges facing the industry, particularly regarding the unchecked importation of molasses and sugar substitutes.
He criticized the board for issuing sugar orders without proper consultation or the publication of minutes and deliberations, asserting that the agency should be led by the “true backbone” of the industry.
The lawmaker pointed out that while the SRA was established in 1986, the landscape has shifted significantly since the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, with ARBs now accounting for an estimated 80 percent of the country’s sugar production.
As Congress resumed sessions on May 4, Mendoza called on the Senate and House Committees on Agriculture to act with “urgency and dispatch” on the proposed measure.
He said that the clamor from the ground — represented by what is expected to be hundreds of thousands of signatures —underscores the need for genuine sectoral representation in policy-making.
By expanding the board to include millers, planters, ethanol workers, and consumer groups, the TUCP aims to ensure that the SRA serves the collective interest of all stakeholders rather than a select few, finally bringing transparency to the governance of the nation’s sugar industry, Mendoza said.*
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