By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson recently challenged Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials regarding the P2 billion allocation for the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) and questioned how the appropriation will be spent.
The governor raised the issue after the Senate conducted a public hearing last week over allegations SRA failed to properly utilize SIDA funding.
Under implementation of the SIDA fund, P2 billion was initially allocated for the sugar industry, however, due to underutilization, the original amount was reduced to P750 million last year and P500 million this year.
The original allocation for 2020, meanwhile, is P67 million.
Earlier this year, SRA board member, Atty. Emilio Yulo III, said SRA was doing their “homework” to get the P2 billion annual fund./DGB, WDJ