BACOLOD City – Dino Yulo – the planters’ representative to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) – said he agreed to the proposed sugar importation provided that it is “calibrated and preemptive.”
Yulo stressed that he does not want the sugar industry to make the same mistakes the rice industry did.
“The sugar milling season has already started. We are confident that we have enough sugar supply in the country but we agreed to this measure to avoid a situation similar to what has happened to the rice industry recently,” said Yulo.
He was referring to the rice shortage in the country, which put the National Food Authority and the Duterte administration in hot water.
In terms of sugar supply, Yulo said the SRA will be “on top of the situation” and will “continue to exercise its mandate as provided for by law.”
The government’s Economic Development Cluster (EDC) has proposed to import sugar to address the nine-year high 6.4 inflation rate problem in the country.
The EDC believed that importing sugar would ease high food prices.
Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the planned sugar importation will only benefit consumers.
Farmers in Negros Occidental have earlier opposed the sugar import proposal.
Such measure, if approved, would disadvantage the labor sector, they said.
“The price of sugar now is P1,600 per bag. If the importation materializes, the price might go down to P1,200 per bag,” said Enrique Tayo of the Negros Occidental Federation of Farmers.
Meanwhile, Winnie Sancho – labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas – said he agrees with Yulo “in principle.”
But he added that the SRA “should be transparent” to sugar workers.
Sancho, also the head of the General Alliance of Workers Association and the Save the Sugar Industry Movement, said the SRA must make sure that the proposed sugar importation must be regulated.
The SRA must also watch out for sugar smuggling, he added./PN
