By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

With a number of local trade organizations and legislative bodies disapproving of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) proposal to liberalize sugar importation, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia is the latest to add their voice to the opposition.

He said anything and everything that affects the sugar industry will, either directly or indirectly, affect the city.

DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier submitted a proposal to liberalize sugar in order to control prices.

Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board member, Atty. Emilio ‘Dino’ Yulo III, and several groups opposed the DBM proposal, with the SRA official stating, without intervention from President Rodrigo Duterte on the proposed deregulation of sugar importation, the local sugar industry would die.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. earlier made similar statements, claiming such a move would mean “the death of the sugar industry.”

In addition, both the Negros Occidental Provincial Board and Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod passed resolutions offering identical sentiment.

Meanwhile, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed, despite 2018 fourth quarter agriculture numbers up, sugarcane production was in decline.

According to their 4Q report, agriculture overall, which includes crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries, saw an increase of 1.8 percent; crops, in particular, saw a marginal 0.25 percent increase.

However, the report noted sugarcane production saw a 2.22 percent drop, noting a reduction in areas harvested in the Western Visayas./DGB, WDJ