During a recent interview, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) head Hermenegildo Serafica said excise taxes from the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law are beneficial to the sugar industry, claiming they have discouraged beverage companies from utilizing artificial sweeteners, like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and replacing it with local sugar.

“These companies use around nine million metric tons of sugar,” he explained. “Buying it locally would help revive the country’s sugar industry.”

Serafica said Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc. are currently phasing out HFCS from their production, along with having an HFCS shipment rerouted to Vietnam.

He added, Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines has followed suit and diverted their shipments to China, while RC Cola Philippines vowed to only use locally-produced sugar.

The SRA head explained, under the law, companies pay a P12 per bottle tax with HFCS, while the local sugar incurs an additional fee of P6 per bottle.

However, Negros chairman for the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) Rolando Rillo said the additional taxes from the law are raising the prices of commodities and negatively impacting the 300,000 sugarcane workers across Negros, calling their situation “more unstable.”

“Most of the workers in the sugarcane fields are now suffering from the effects of the tax reform, given that they [are] only given P30 to P50 a day,” he explained. “Sugar workers cannot take more burdens like this.”

Rillo explained most laborers work under a “pakyaw” system, or quota system, which provides a lower minimum wage than regular workers.

The prices of the commodities will continue to increase until workers cannot afford to buy anymore, he added./DGB, WDJ