The planned importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar recently announced by Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. of the Department of Agriculture has been agreed on under Sugar Order (SO) 2, signed in March this year.
Sugar Regulatory Administration head Pablo Luis 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.”
He said this will increase the farmer’s price to a stable P2,700 to P2,800 per 50-kilo bag of raw sugar.
Laurel’s pronouncement of sugar importation was met with complaints from sugar planters, who claimed that there was no consultation on the proposal.
National Federation of Sugar Planters president Enrique Rojas, PanayFed president Danilo Abelita, and Confed president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. called on the SRA to conduct a stakeholders’ consultation, and enlighten them on the basis of the proposed sugar importation plan.
“We need to see the sugar production and demand figures which were used as basis for such a plan,” Rojas and Abelita said.
They also debunked what they described as “malicious insinuations” that the Sugar Council, an umbrella organization representing 67 percent of the production of affiliated sugarcane farmers, has disbanded.
In a discussion with members of the media June 26, Laurel said the target importation of 200,000MT of sugar that is expected to arrive in September this year, will cover the gap before the milling season in October.
The agriculture chief assured that the move underwent consultations with stakeholders.
The DA proposal was backed 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,” he said in a statement. ||
