By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Senator Cynthia Villar, will conduct a hearing on the unregulated importation of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) today at 1:00 p.m.
Among those invited to attend the hearing are Sugar Alliance of the Philippines (SAP) spokesperson, Atty. Emilio Yulo; Wennie Sancho and Hernane Braza to represent the labor sector; and Romeo Caram for agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Also expected to attend are Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Atty. Anna Rosario Paner of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez.
The issue of HFCS sparked a rally outside the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Barangay Mansilingan, with Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. calling for a boycott of all Coca-Cola products.
Recently, Paner said, while she cannot “quantify” the impact of sugar industry’s Coca-Cola boycott, she expressed confidence that it was successful./WDJ