By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

“Taste the feeling,” this was the reply of Sugar Alliance of the Philippines (SAP) spokesperson Atty. Dino Yulo, after Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines was charged with outright smuggling of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), last week.
In a statement released to the media yesterday, Yulo said Coca-Cola FEMSA will now have an opportunity to experience the feeling of being tagged a criminal after they were charged as criminally liable for outright smuggling.
Yulo said SAP salutes the men and women of the Sugar Anti-Smuggling Organization (SASO) for bravely filing the smuggling charges against the beverage giant.
“Coca-Cola is anything but shameless and those who continue to patronize their products must be ashamed of even supporting this giant company who defies our country’s policies for their own profit,” Yulo said.
He further stated, the action from Coca-Cola FEMSA to challenge the effectiveness of Sugar Order No. 3 is very telling as to how far the company will go to rake in profit.
“We have always said that Coke cannot be relied on even after they claimed under oath at the senate hearing that they respect the validity of Sugar Order No. 3. Again, this is double talk from a company that says something and acts in another way,” he said.
He further pointed out it is not the first time the company has defied existing policies. “They also snubbed the request from our provincial council to show proof that the HFCS they are using to sweeten their beverage comes from non-GMO corn,” he stressed.
Yulo stated he is looking forward to hearing how the multinational will explain the criminal charges during the congressional hearing set for today.
“This issue has gone beyond the sugar industry’s call, and hopefully with this development, our national government will now act on the matter,” he said./WDJ