Negros sugar industry seeks P-Noy intervention

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. has called on President Benigno Aquino III to intervene in the looming crisis that will soon affect the sugar industry.

“We are calling on the President to help the sugar industry. The problem is very alarming. It needs political will,” he said, as he disclosed that sugar trading in the province has stopped due to overproduction.

Maranon said that, presently, there are no buyers of sugar in this province even if it has plummeted to P1,250 per bag only, compared to the past when it was sold at P1,800 per bag or higher.

Sugar produce have been stocked in warehouses of sugar centrals because no one buys them now and, if this problem continues, the industry stands to lose billions of pesos, he said.

“The problem is oversupply due to smuggling, and overproduction. Production has increased by more than 20 percent compared to last cropping,” said Maranon.

Provincial Legal Officer Jose Ma. Valencia, in a separate interview, disclosed that sugar centrals in Negros Occidental also do not want to sell their sugar at a lesser price because they have brought them at P1,800 per bag from sugar planters. “If they sell at the current buying price, they will lose millions of pesos,” he said.

Valencia said the overproduction was caused by the so-called “bumper crop” when planters produced more that they intended to export to countries in need of more sugar. For the past several years, New Zealand, Thailand and Korea lacked sugar, but the problem now is that these countries have recovered faster from their sugar needs, he said.

Another problem is that small sugar planters are losing their farmers and workers to bigger producers because of higher wages, Valencia added.

Maranon said the solutions to these problems are to stop smuggling and importation of pre-mixed sugar, done under the guise of non-tariff sugar concentrates by some companies. These pre-mixes have been found to have 98 percent sugar content, which is why companies importing these no longer buy from sugar producers.

 “Sugar is a very bulky commodity. It is shipped in trucks and large boat vessels. If the Bureau of Customs is really bent on stopping smuggling, they can stop it,” said the governor. (FREEMAN)