• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Jan. 23 that direct cash assistance to sugar farmers and small planters is one option to mitigate the impact of the drop in millgate prices.
Pangilinan, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, led a public consultation in Talisay City with sugar industry stakeholders in Negros on the declining millgate price and its impact on producers, workers, and rural communities.
He said he will discuss with the Department of Agriculture the possible cash assistance for affected sugar farmers, and committed to “translate (consultation) inputs into legislative and budgetary action”.
The joint Senate-House consultation was pursuant to House Resolution 373 filed by Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, calling for an inquiry, in aid of legislation, “into the plunge of millgate sugar prices in Negros Occidental”, to identify the root causes, review the effectiveness of existing laws and policies, and recommend legislative and administrative measures to stabilize sugar prices at profitable level, and ensure the economic welfare of sugar producers and laborers.
“We called for a joint public consultation on the significant decline in millgate sugar prices in Negros Occidental because our sugar industry is in a critical state and needs urgent resuscitation, not just a discussion of symptoms,” Benitez stressed in a statement. “We are here to secure a lifeline that balances production and stabilizes prices for fair profits.”
Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) consultant Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela said that over the last 13 weeks of 2025, the drop in sugar and molasses prices cost the sugar industry foregone revenues of P5.53 billion from sugar sales, and P1.73 billion from molasses sales.
“Money inflows contracted by P560 million per week, mostly in Negros Island,” Coscolluela, former governor of Negros Occidental, said in the Confed position aired at the consultation that was also attended by Quezon 1st District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga, chairperson of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, Bacolod and Negros congressmen, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, sugar planters and agrarian reform beneficiaries, heads of regional line agency, and provincial and LGU officials.
“If unchecked, foregone revenues of the sugar industry could exceed P20 billion by June 2026,” he said. “(And) even when sugar millgate prices were dropping sharply, retail consumers did not benefit from corresponding declines.”
Benitez said the public consultation is a critical step forward. “Our shared purpose is to find sustainable solutions that will secure the lifeline of the sugar industry.” | CGC
