• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Various sugar federations in the country have reiterated their call for timely government intervention as well as united action to address urgent critical issues faced by the industry.
The Sugar Council, composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations Inc. (CONFED), the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED), issued a statement on Tuesday addressing an appeal to the concerned officials led by the Chief Executive.
“We urgently appeal to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, to adopt measures to stop the decline in farmgate sugar prices and bring retail prices to more reasonable levels, even as the industry continues to seek ways to remain viable in the face of adversity,” they said.
According to the Sugar Council, Sugar Regulatory Administration records show that “more imported refined sugar is being withdrawn from warehouses compared to locally-refined sugar, indicating that traders give priority to cheaper imports – often referred to as sugar subsidized by their host countries – which brings them more profit in the retail market”.
The Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers Association (LUZONFED) Inc. also joined the call for the President to address the “continuous and precipitous decline” in the farmgate prices of sugar.
In a letter addressed to Marcos dated Dec. 18, LUZONFED president Cornelio Toreja said they “believe that direct intervention by our government agencies in whatever form should be considered seriously”.
This, “if only to keep the industry viable, even in the short term of this current crop year,” he added.
Similar appeal was earlier made by the other sugar federations for the government to intervene in arresting the downtrend in sugar prices.
Sugar farmers have blamed sugar importation for the low trading prices of sugar, with prevailing prices reported only between P2,300 and P2,500 per 50-kilo bag.
Such is below the expected price level of P3,200 that would provide a comfortable profit margin for sugar producers and small farmers.
Toreja said they noted that the market prices for raw and refined sugar have remained largely unaffected despite the reduced farmgate prices.
The situation “gives rise to concerns on the farmers’ ability to sustain themselves in this perilous time and their capacity to maintain their farms’ productivity for the coming crop years,” he added.
“Thus, we urge the government to take a direct hand in ensuring that our farmers get fair, reasonable and sustainable returns on their hard work and provide enough incentive to continue sugar production in the interest of food security,” Toreja said.
He added that they submit the concern as “our farmers perceive that whatever gains that are derived from these low prices are channeled to entities other than the farmers themselves and inordinate profits are being generated elsewhere at the peril of their livelihood.”
Negros Occidental Fifth District Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo, a former board member of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, earlier encouraged the government to start directly buying sugar from producers at a price that will give them some margin of profit.
“At the current price, it is seen a loss of at least P40,000 per hectare, and with most small farmers owning between one and three hectares, the low price has been hurting them the most,” Yulo said. | GB
