Marcos vows to improve sugar industry

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos vowed yesterday to fix the problems hounding the country’s sugar industry, admitting that these have long been neglected.

During the distribution of aid to various sectors in Talisay City, Marcos said that while the Philippine economy is doing well, it was not spared from the problems confronting its trade partners. He cited the need to make some adjustments and to find ways to assist sectors hit by economic shocks.

The President then mentioned the plight of the sugar industry before residents of the city, which is located in the country’s top sugar-producing province Negros Occidental.

“What we are doing is we are fixing things. For example, the problem of the sugar industry, we have a lot of problems to fix because they were neglected in the previous years,” said the President.

“For now, we are trying to ensure that the people will have enough, not just sugar but all agricultural products so that we can say that we have enough food supply that is affordable to all,” he added.

Marcos, also the agriculture secretary, did not provide specifics on how he would uplift the sugar industry, which contributes about P90 billion to the country’s economy every year.

The President was in Negros Occidental to attend the culmination of the Masskara Festival, which began as the administration of his late father and namesake was dealing with a sugar crisis – a global oversupply that dropped the prices of the commodity.

What needs to be done

In a text message to The STAR, Pablo Luis Azcona, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board planters’ representative, said there was no meeting over the weekend between sugar industry leaders and the President during his visit for the MassKara Festival.

The sugar industry’s prime movers believe there is a need to carefully assess the current sugar production capacity versus the projected market demand against a backdrop of challenges, such as high input costs and smuggling.

Aurelio Valderrama, president of the Confederation of Sugarcane Farmers (CONFED) – one of the major planters’ federations in the country, said they are currently looking at various factors affecting the industry, such as the prevailing domestic prices and negative reactions from policymakers, legislators and end-users, and the possibility of renewed sugar smuggling.

He cited the delay in importation caused by the temporary restraining order on Sugar Order No. 3, issued during the Duterte administration.

This, he said, “resulted in forgone production output and lost market opportunities for producers of sugar-sweetened products and, at the same time, enabled various players to exploit the tight market situation and jack up retail prices to the detriment of consumers.”

Valderrama enumerated several measures that need to be in place, beginning with government taking “concrete continuing measures, together with the industry, to effectively curtail this nefarious practice.”

Government must also find ways to effectively address the high costs of production, particularly the prices of fertilizer, fuel and other direct costs.

There must be strong support for research, development and extension to enhance both farm productivity and milling efficiency, said Valderrama.

The CONFED also called for measures to improve program implementation and fund utilization under the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA). This year’s SIDA funding amounted to P500 million, a significant reduction from the original P2-billion allocation.

SRA: Sugar supply stable till yearend

Stable sugar supply is seen until the end of the year as local production improved by over 20 percent year-on-year, according to Azcona.

“So far, as of Oct. 16 based on our inventory, we are already 20 percent better than October last year. The mills in Negros are running at full capacity,” he said in a radio interview yesterday.

In terms of pricing, the farmgate price of raw sugar has gone down significantly.

“As the farmers’ representative, the selling price of raw sugar is now around P62 per kilo based in Negros. Based on estimates from the farmers, this should become P85-90 per kilo of refined sugar in Manila,” Azcona said.However, not factored in this pricing estimate is the involvement of traders, which is beyond the control of farmers and millers, he said.Monitoring by the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed the current retail price of sugar in Metro Manila has gone as low as P95 per kilo and as high as P120 per kg.

Last week, SRA started selling sugar at P70 a kg at its Quezon City and Bacolod City offices. In addition, the Kadiwa rolling stores are set to sell directly to consumers at the same price.

Kadiwa is a marketing initiative of the DA, which seeks to empower the farming community by providing a direct and effective farm-to-consumer food supply chain.

Azcona said some Robinsons Supermarket branches are also selling refined sugar at P70 a kg, same as at 23 outlets of CSI Supermarket in Luzon.

To reach more consumers, the SRA is also looking at distributing cheaper sugar to wet markets through the local government units (LGUs).

“The effort to distribute (the P70-per-kilo sugar) in markets, we’re also thinking if some LGUs want to participate. We’re studying that also,” Azcona said.

Distributing affordable sugar is part of the commitment of importers to allot 10 percent of their stock to be sold through the DA at P70 a kg.

“That is equivalent to 300,000 bags or about 15 million kilos. For retail, we limit it to three kilos per person for supply to last long for households,” Azcona said.

Meanwhile, the DA and SRA are still working on the suggested retail price (SRP) for sugar to allow consumers access to cheaper sugar.

“There are still ongoing discussions for the SRP, spearheaded by SRA. The target is before Christmas,” DA Assistant Secretary for consumer and political affairs and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista said in a radio interview also yesterday. – Danessa Rivera