EDITORIAL - Still bitter over sugar

Last year the holiday cheer was dampened by the eye-watering prices of red onions, with no white onions to be had at any price. Onion memes provided comic relief from the pain of onions priced at up to P720 a kilo, due to a domestic supply crunch arising from the lack of foresight in making timely importations.

Having learned its lesson, the government has moved to prevent a repeat of the holiday onion crisis this year. What remains elevated is the retail price of sugar, despite multiple importations that have pulled down mill gate prices. Retail prices of refined white sugar have doubled from two years ago, and have resisted going down significantly despite the entry of tons of imports since the start of this year along with regular sugarcane harvests.

Good governance watchdogs have yet to address questions about the anomalous importation of 440,000 metric tons of white sugar by three lucky entities handpicked by the Department of Agriculture: All Asian Countertrade Inc., Edison Lee Marketing Corp. and S&D Sucden Philippines Inc. This importation was suspected to be linked to the resignation in March of David John Thaddeus Alba as head of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, although he cited health reasons.

The imported sugar began arriving on Feb. 9, even before a sugar order was issued by the SRA. The DA had attributed the rushed arrival of the imports to the need to bring down retail prices to P80 to P84 a kilo from a high of P110 as of March. This price range was still higher than the prevailing retail price of P55 a kilo in January 2022.

High sugar prices fueled food inflation, which in turn accounted for much of the hefty uptick in the inflation rate starting late last year. Today, despite numerous importations, a retail price of P80 a kilo for white sugar remains an aspiration. Meanwhile, local sugarcane farmers and millers are complaining about falling mill gate prices amid the continuing importations, which have failed to pull down retail prices from their onerous levels.

The government has promised to look into the lament of domestic producers, and to find out why sugar retail prices refuse to go down. Such promises have been made before. Consumers can only hope that this promise will not go the way of many New Year’s resolutions, which are soon broken and forgotten.