By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
A reported 5,000 showed up to a rally outside the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Barangay Mansilingan, demonstrating against the importation of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and condemning the proposal by Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to suspend Sugar Order No. 3, enacted by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), which regulates the importation of HFCS.
The rally included sugar producers, sugar farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, mayors, vice mayors, councilors, kagawads, teachers, environmentalists, and labor groups from across the Negros Island Region (NIR) and Panay island.
Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr., however, was a no-show, but Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson was present and insisted support from both himself and the entire Negros Occidental Provincial Board. He also noted to those gathered the Board passed a resolution earlier this month supporting the SRA order.
Several sugar planters said they will not patronize the company anymore, chanting, “No to drugs, No to Coke, No to HFCS!”
Pontevedra Mayor Jose Benito Alonzo read a statement by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, declaring, “I would like to express my support to my fellow Negrenses on this day as you hold your protest action against those who are favoring the use of HFCS.”
In the statement, he promised to fast-track a Senate inquiry into HFCS importation, claiming the sweetener can potentially impact “the five million Filipinos dependent on the [sugar] industry.”
Coca-Cola, however, citing a University of the Philippines study, claims their use of 40 percent of sugar produced in the Philippines is driving growth in the local industry.
Zubiri also condemned Piñol, telling him to “revisit his mandate and protect the agriculture sector and small farmers.”
An effigy of Piñol, with his head affixed on a Coca-Cola bottle, was burnt after the rally ceremony.
According to United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, Inc. (USPFP) President Manuel Lamata, they will continue demonstrating and the boycott will continue after today.
For Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, Inc. President Danilo Abelita, his organization will be conducting a media campaign in order to inform the public about HFCS.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Operations and Plans chief, Police Superintendent Noel Polines, said there were no reported incidents besides commuters affected by massive congestion along the Bacolod-Murcia highway./WDJ
