• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson aired their support to government plans of importing refined sugar, as farmer groups called for a data-based, transparent, and consultative importation plan.
While he is okay with the plan to import 200,000 MT of refined sugar, Lacson said the timing must be right so it does not hurt the local farmers.
The governor stressed that the imported sugar should not come in when the milling season starts so there will be a market for locally produced sugar.
“The concern of the sugar planters is the timing,” the governor pointed out.
Meanwhile, Senator Zubiri said he supports the importation since “the country’s sugar production is not capable of addressing the needs of users”.
He noted that the milling season will start September this year in Negros, while it will commence in Bukidnon either by October or November.
“By this time, I think there will be a shortfall,” Zubiri said, stressing that the best person to be asked for the timing of sugar importation is Sugar Regulatory Administration head Pablo Luis Azcona.
The senator said that “they need to import 200,000 MT to avoid price increases of Coca Cola, pandesal (bread) and other basic commodities using sugar.”
Sugar planters will be okay if their sugar sells at P3,000 per 50 kilogram, he added.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. reported recently that the planned importation of 200,000MT of sugar has been agreed under Sugar Order (SO) 2 and signed in March this year.
Azcona explained that SO2, or the pre-qualification of possible importers being referred to by Laurel, will stabilize the refined sugar prices from P73 to P100 a kilo.
In a statement, Azcona said that SO2 will pre-qualify possible importers by buying “local farmer sugar first.”
The Department of Agriculture proposal was supported by United Sugar Producers Federation president Manuel Lamata.
“This will fill in the shortage before harvest season starts in September. Harvest this coming crop year will be delayed due to the El Niño, and when we were consulted about this matter, we approved the proposal,” Lamata said in a statement.
But the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Inc. and Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc., called on the SRA to conduct a stakeholders’ consultation, and enlighten them on the basis of the proposed sugar importation plan.
In a joint statement, NFSP president Enrique Rojas and PANAYFED president Danilo Abelita said the arrival of imported sugar at the start of the milling season will exert downward pressure on sugar prices. | GB
