BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA & MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City – The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) is asserting that beverage companies in the country should buy locally produced sugar.
The group appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. after beverage companies requested the direct importation of premium refined sugar.
In a letter dated March 22, addressed to the President in his capacity as head of the Department of Agriculture, beverage companies complained about sugar supply, high prices, and the alleged “outright refusal” of traders to “provide price quotes to industrial buyers.”
Beverage companies are urging the President to “consider available options that will allow industrials to directly import premium refined sugar to address the shortage and stabilize prices of domestic sugar” and to “prevent future supply crises.”
UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said beverage companies should patronize local sugar as Filipinos are buying their products.
“These companies have earned billions of revenues from us Filipinos. However, allowing them to directly import will not just kill the sugar industry but those dependent on the industry, just so they can further enrich themselves at our expense,” said Lamata.
The food and beverage industry comprises over 90 percent of the industrial manufacturers that require refined sugar for production, the letter from beverage companies further said.
They added that last year’s issuance of Sugar Order No. 2, which allowed industrials to import their sugar allocation directly, brought optimism that they would be able to continue production until a more sustainable solution is in place.
“Why should they be given the privilege to buy cheaper sugar from Thailand, which is subsidized by the government, and sell their products to us at a higher price?” said Lamata./PN
