By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental third district Rep. Francisco Benitez said he is hoping the House of Representatives follows the Senate’s lead and passes a resolution blocking the move towards sugar liberalization, or the deregulation of sugar importation. The congressman said he has called on the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, Quezon first district Rep Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga, to conduct an inquiry into the proposal.
“Enverga is now considering of holding the inquiry in Negros because of my invitation,” Benitez affirmed.
The said inquiry is expected to start either next week or the following week. The committee is currently preparing invitations for resource speakers.
Benitez noted, the Makabayan Bloc has also filed a bill seeking a similar inquiry.
“We are actually in a unique situation where we have people from all sorts of sectors opposing sugar liberalization,” the lawmaker added.
The Senate earlier adopted a near-unanimous resolution discouraging the executive department from sugar liberalization. The only lawmakers not signing on to the policy were Senator Lito Lapid and embattled Senator Leila de Lima.
The resolution calls on the government to “safeguard the welfare of sugar farmers and industry workers.”
“The deregulated entry of subsidized sugar into the Philippine market will be disastrous to our sugar industry,” the document read. “Liberalization or deregulation of the sugar industry will not affect the competitiveness of sugar-containing food products for export.”
The resolution also pointed out, the domestic sugar industry stretches across 20 provinces, including Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental./DGB, WDJ