- BERT BAYORAN
Sugar planters in Negros Occidental are vehemently opposing the proposed abolition of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
Pablo Luis Azcona, who represents the planters in the Sugar Board, said the SRA is needed to regulate the industry.
He added that they want protection for the farmers and for the domestic sugar to be consumed first before importation.
“We have businessmen, who do not care about the farmers, what they care about is maximum profit. If they are allowed by the government to import unlimitedly, their profit will go up but all the farmers will die,” Azcona said.
Former Sugar Board member turned Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo said that the abolition of the SRA will mean “unabated importation, like what is happening with the rice industry.”
“We cannot do away with the regulatory powers of the SRA,” Yulo said.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed), said he is also not in favor of the abolition of the SRA, especially now that is effective.
David John Thaddeus Alba, a Negrense, has been designated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as acting SRA administrator, replacing Hermenegildo Serafica, who resigned from his post due to the recent sugar importation mess.
Lamata said the problem is “the people who are manning the SRA before”.
Cornelio Toreja, president of the Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers Association, said that abolishing the SRA and incorporating it with the Department of Agriculture “will hurt the sugar industry.”
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said Wednesday he favors the abolition of the SRA, claiming that it has not been very effective in its role in the development of the sugar industry./GB
