• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Sugar Council has welcomed the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) policy of ensuring that sugar imports are calibrated to actual domestic requirements, saying the approach is what the industry has long been seeking.
The group is composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines, and Democratic Association of Labor Organizations.
In a statement, the Sugar Council cited Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s recent pronouncement that sugar importations should be enough to meet the country’s needs – “not more, not less.”
It added that sugar importation should be properly timed and calibrated based on transparent data on domestic production, consumption and inventory.
The Sugar Council called anew for reforms in the government’s decision-making process, citing the impact of what it described as ill-timed and excessive imports on sugar prices and industry revenues.
It said that over-importation in the recent past resulted in sharp declines in millgate prices, costing farmers, sugar mills and other industry stakeholders billions of pesos in foregone revenues.
The Sugar Council also raised concerns over the spread of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), which was detected as early as 2022 and affected extensive areas during crop year 2025-2026.
While it welcomed the government’s planned 2027 funding for laboratories and biological control facilities, the group said more immediate measures are needed before milling operations resume in October 2026.
The Sugar Council further said that the government’s response to RSSI should also be subjected to a full accounting, including when the threat was identified, when warnings were received, what actions were taken, and how much government funding had been spent. | GPB
