• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Amid the downtrend in sugar prices, industry stakeholders have sought the intervention of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Manuel Lamata, president of United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), said in a letter addressed to the President that small farmers are already hard-pressed to make ends meet as prices of sugar have now breached the break-even point of survival.
Lamata said that year 2025 has been difficult for the sugar industry, which has been plagued by pest infestations and disastrous calamities that have destroyed sugar fields and claimed lives.
The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED) also suggested to the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (DA-SRA) to ask intervention from the President to address the present sugar crisis.
In an open letter to all sugar stakeholders, CONFED said it earlier warned of a brewing storm ahead of the new milling season, citing the oversupply of imported refined sugar, unchecked molasses importation, and unregulated entry of sugar substitutes, that may result to millgate price crash.
CONFED also suggested a moratorium on further imports until the end of milling, with volumes and arrival schedules subject to consultation with stakeholders.
It also called on DA-SRA and political leaders to work in concert with the industry, on urgent as well as long term solutions.
Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo urged all sugar stakeholders “to stop bickering and help address the situation.”
Instead, Yulo called on SRA to “institute immediate measures to arrest the downward trend” of sugar prices.
He asked that sugar farmers be given reprieve as “our small farmers have suffered more than enough from the calamities, the pest infestations, to very low prices and with the way things have been going in the past weeks, they can barely make ends meet.” | GB
