BACOLOD City – A labor sector leader said a “dreaded” outcome can now be expected after President Rodrigo Duterte signed into a law a bill that seeks the unimpeded importation of rice in the country.
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the Save the Sugar Movement, said the signing of the new rice tariffication law will pave the way for the liberalization of sugar importation.
Sancho – also the labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas – said the proposed deregulation of the sugar import process will “take away the lives, hopes and dreams” of around 641,100 sugar farmers and workers.
He added that Negros Occidental will suffer most, with it being the country’s top sugar producer.
Should the President’s economic managers push through with their plan to deregulate sugar import, “there will be a social and economic crisis, particularly in sugar-producing provinces,” Sancho said.
“Can the workers in the sugar industry alter the forthcoming event and defend their survival? Do they have an option?” Sancho asked.
He also warned the economic managers of the consequences of the proposal.
“The consequences of the [proposed] economic policy are hunger and poverty,” Sancho stressed./PN
