Senator Richard Gordon on Saturday joined colleagues in calling for the strengthening of the sugar industry amid an alleged new proposal of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to import a huge supply of sugar.
“Maraming sugar sa Negros pero wala akong nakikitang candy factory. Dapat iyong ating sugar products, nagagamit natin para magkaroon ng value-added iyong mga sugar planter natin (There are plenty of sugar in Negros but I can’t find a candy factory. We should make use of our sugar products to provide value added in our sugar planters),” Gordon said in a statement.
He added that the plan to import sugar will make the sugar farmers suffer.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Senator Imee Marcos urged Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar to disapprove a pending proposal of SRA to import sugar. SRA is an attached unit under DA.
“Nananawagan kami kay Agriculture Secretary William Dar na huwag lagdaan ang panibagong hirit na importasyon ng 350,000 metriko-toneledang asukal na inaprubahan ni Hermenegildo Serafica, hepe ng Sugar Regulatory Administration (We are calling on Agriculture Secretary William Dar not to sign another bid to import a 350,000 metric-tons of sugar approved by Hermenegildo Serafica, the chief of Sugar Regulatory Administration),” she said.
Marcos was joined by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri saying on Thursday that the local sugar farmers are asking for the Senate’s help again over talks of a new SRA proposal.
“Our courts have already landed on the side of our sugar farmers last February, so it’s disheartening that we are having the same conversation about importation again,” Zubiri said in a statement.
Led by the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), sugar producers had recently expressed alarm over Sugar Order No. 4 issued by the SRA on April 5 which seeks to bring in 350,000 metric tons of raw and refined sugar in the country.
Last February, Secretary Dar explained that the government’s move to allow the importation of sugar was based on the data showing deficiencies in some commodities including sugar. (PNA)
