By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Abang Lingkod partylist Rep. Stephen Paduano said he is pushing for the sugar industry’s share of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which is said to be P3.7 billion annually. During a recent House Ways and Means Committee hearing, he claimed, both last year and this year, the sugar industry did not receive its share of revenue from taxes assessed on sugar-sweetened beverages.
“Under TRAIN Law, 15 percent of the incremental revenue from [sugar-sweetened beverages] should go directly to the sugar farmers,” the legislator noted. “It could go to the modernization program of the sugar industry.”
However, Paduano said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) already pledged to work out funding for the sugar industry in the 2020 budget.
During the said hearing, Albay second district Rep. Joey Salceda asked DBM to make “institutional amendments” to the proposed 2020 P4.1 trillion General Appropriations Act after expressing disappointment that the country’s 62,000 sugar farmers have yet to benefit from the TRAIN Law entitlement.
The congressman added, “DBM can suggest changes, [at] any point and time, in the proposed budget.”
Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director Marilyn Pagayunan admitted they lack the capability to determine if the companies are using high fructose corn syrup.
“For determining if it is a high fructose corn syrup, there is a need for FDA to purchase or procure equipment,” she explained. “We are trying to determine [the] manufacturers who are lying.”/DGB, WDJ