Sugar stakeholders appeal imports plan to Malacañang

MANILA, Philippines — Local sugar stakeholders are now seeking President Duterte’s intervention amid the plan of the country’s economic team to liberalize sugar imports.

In a resolution filed by the Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bukidnon, stakeholders have appealed to President Duterte to junk the proposal of the  Department of Finance to liberalize the importation of sugar.

“Here again our economic managers are in the mood of experimenting, this time at the expense of the sugar industry dependents,” the stakeholders said.

“The rice industry, where Bukidnon is also one of the top producers in Mindanao, is in limbo because of the unregulated importation of cheaper rice produce from the other rice producing countries as a consequence of the Rice Tariffication Law,” they said.

In a recent economic bulletin, the DOF pushed for the removal of quantitative restrictions on sugar imports. Early this year, the government already hinted on the liberalization of the industry.

Bukidnon accounts for 72 percent of the sugarcane area and 75 percent of sugar production of Mindanao. More than 100,000 people in the province will be directly affected if the unregulated sugar importation will be allowed.

“Any disruption in sugar farming or cessation in mill operations will severely and negatively affect the livelihood of farmers and workers, allied businesses of sugar production and the overall economic activity of Bukidnon,” the stakeholders said.

“The unregulated entry of imported sugar will also lead to drop in purchases of sugar produced by farms and mills in the Bukidnon sugar milling district, loss of livelihood of small sugar farmers, unemployment of farm and mill workers, closure of businesses related to sugar production and overall slowdown of economic activity in the province,” they said.

Liberalization is being pushed because of the premise that local sugar prices are higher than those in the world market, making local prices uncompetitive.

Stakeholders, however, maintained that allowing the unregulated entry of cheaper refined sugar into the country by major sugar exporting countries like Thailand and India would kill the Philippine sugar industry.

“Even the US who is a champion of globalization and liberation has a long standing policy to strictly regulate sugar importation to protect the sugar dependent farmers from the disastrous effect of unregulated sugar importation,” they said.

“The Sugar Regulatory Administration should be allowed to continue with its mandate to regulate the supply of sugar,” the stakeholders said.

Sugar farming and mill operations generate P90 billion annually from the sale of raw and refined sugar, molasses and ethanol. The sector employs about 700,000 workers across 20 sugar producing provinces including Bukidnon.