SRA pushes Sugarcane Bill

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is pushing for the passage of the Sugarcane Bill, which seeks the creation of a sugar development fund and the establishment of special economic zones for sugarcane cultivation, to strengthen the industry ahead of the economic integration within the ASEAN region by 2015.

The bill, authored by Rep. Alfredo Benitez (third district, Negros Occidental) in the House of Representatives and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Nancy Binay for the Senate, is still awaiting approval in both houses of Congress.

“The proposed legislation shall benefit our stakeholders including our workers,” said SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin.

She said if passed into law, the Sugarcane Bill would provide an enabling environment to make sugarcane and sugar production competitive when tariffs on sugar are lowered to five percent within the ASEAN region when free trade in the region takes effect.

“Without any financial assistance from government, the industry and the whole sugarcane value chain will shrink, leading to the displacement of workers and declining economic growth of major sugarcane-producing provinces,” said Martin.

The sugarcane industry, she noted, provides employment to various agriculture subsectors such as processing, trading, farm and industrial input suppliers such as fertilizer and lime manufacturers and suppliers, suppliers of processing chemicals, suppliers of farm machinery and local fabricators.

The lowering of tariffs on sugar would lead to the entry to cheap sugar from neighboring countries which would compete with local produce.

SRA board member Jesus Barrera said the proposed special economic zones for sugarcane production would lead to the establishment of diversified industries using sugarcane as raw materials.

“This provides more employment opportunities in nearby communities and (enables) easier deployment of government support services to the producers, farmers and workers,” he said.