By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson believes the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will look into the welfare of the small sugar planters after the Sugar Order (SO) No. 6, which allows the importation of 440,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, was released.

Previously, the SRA proposed the importation of 450,000 MT of sugar. However, other groups such as the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association proposed a lower volume of 350,000 MT of the commodity.

Lacson said the SRA must determine the right volume and the timing of the importation.

“Right now, based on the articles I have read, there seems to be a conflict as to the timing or when it should come in,” Lacson said.

SO 6 was issued last Wednesday, February 15, and signed by SRA administrator David John Thaddeus Alba, SRA board members Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag, and Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban.

The newly-issued order was met with protests from some groups, particularly the labor sector in Negros Occidental, who said there was alleged corruption in the importation of sugar.

Earlier, labor rights group leader Wennie Sancho said the government’s importation program should be inclusive and the major stakeholders should participate, rather than select a few, favoring a particular group of importers and traders to the prejudice of the sugar industry and the workers in general.

Sancho also warned that the proposed sugar importation would be disastrous to the local sugar industry./DGB, WDJ