Lawmaker urges review of SRA mandate

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the sugar importation mess, a senior administration lawmaker proposed yesterday a review of the mandate of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) or its abolition.

“I think it’s about time that Congress review the mandate and continued existence of the SRA,” Rep. Jayjay Suarez of Quezon province’s second district said, noting that the agency’s 35 years of existence “seem to have failed in carrying out its purpose.”

“We can recommend legislative remedies or maybe we can even recommend its abolition, whichever would benefit sugarcane farmers planters, laborers and other stakeholders,” Suarez said.

During a recent hearing of the House committee on good governance and public accountability, resigned SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said the lives of the families of sugar farmers have not been better for decades.

“While dealing with low sugar production woes because of inclement weather and the COVID-19 pandemic, they also have to constantly compete with imported sugar which have been flooding the local market,” Suarez pointed out.

He said Congress should review the SRA mandate provided in Executive Order 18 and Republic Act 10659 or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015.

Under EO 18 issued in May 1986 which created the SRA, the agency is tasked to promote the growth and development of the sugar industry through the participation of the private sector and to improve the working conditions of laborers.

The Sugarcane Industry Development Law states that the SRA should promote the competitiveness of the industry, maximize the utilization of sugarcane resources and improve the incomes of farmers.

Suarez made the remarks following the SRA’s dependence on importation to address sugar shortage, citing the mess involving the issuance of an unauthorized order that would have allowed 300,000 metric tons of sugar to flood the local market.

Two major sugar producers in Tarlac and Pampanga as well as small sugarcane farmers in Luzon have shifted to other crops, Rep. Florida Robes said.

Robes, who chairs the House committee on good government and public accountability, said sugar producers and farmers have left the industry because of lack of government support.

“It is sad to say that major agricultural areas have been converted into industrial, commercial and gated communities despite the fact that these lands are near irrigation canals,” she noted.

Robes said these developments highlight the need for the SRA to focus on its mandate to protect farmers and to modernize the sugar industry.

Robes’ panel and the House committee on agriculture are investigating the SRA’s sugar importation.

During a recent hearing, she said lawmakers noticed that the SRA had turned to sugar importation as the only measure to address the so-called supply glut.

“This function is not the SRA’s original mandate,” Robes said.