By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The local group United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) appeals to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to ignore calls of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno for allowing industrial users to directly import their sugar needs as a concession to plans to increase taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.

Unifed President Manuel Lamata said they are “totally against the move of Diokno to liberalize importation in favor of a few industrial users.”

“He [Diokno] wants to further enrich these industrial users even knowing that this move will kill the more than five million Filipinos who are dependent on the sugar industry,” Lamata said.

He added that Diokno is bent only on raising taxes without thinking of the effects on sugar farmers.

“Is Diokno prepared to give a livelihood to these five million industry stakeholders?” he asked.

“The Finance Secretary is ill-advised,” Lamata said, adding that beyond the goal of raising taxes, “Diokno should also think of the consumers or the general public who will also be affected, as these industrial users will surely pass on the additional taxes to their consumers.”

Unifed is hoping that Marcos will not endorse this plan, which was never even done in consultation with the sugar industry.

“We know President Marcos’ heart is with and for the farmers as he has told us so, and we are calling for his intervention on this matter,” Lamata said.

“Diokno is clearly anti-farmer,” he added.

In a report by GMA News on Monday, June 26, Diokno sees liberalizing or allowing manufacturers of sweetened beverages to directly import their sugar or sweetener requirements as a “reasonable compromise” for the government’s plan to increase duties and broaden the tax base for sweetened beverages.

The Department of Finance is planning to increase the beverage tax rate under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law to P12 per liter, regardless of the type of sweetener used, remove exemptions, and index the rate by four percent yearly.

“We will make it uniform. I think administratively, that’s also good to simplify,” Diokno said in his weekly press chat.

Currently, the TRAIN law mandates a P6-per-liter excise tax on beverages using caloric and non-caloric sweeteners, and a P12 per-liter tax on beverages using high-fructose corn syrup.

“We will broaden the base,” the Finance chief said, noting that exemptions will be eliminated./DGB, WDJ