By JEN BAYLON

Senator Imee Marcos has urged the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to set the price of raw sugar at P3,000 per 50-kilogram bag.

Marcos, during the opening of the 28th Panaad sa Negros Festival in Bacolod City on Monday, April 15, said sugar prices in the market are not going down.

She pointed out that the current price per liter kilogram (LKG) of sugar is at P2,700 to P2,800, which is lower than the P3,200 per LKG in 2022.

“Hindi naman natin maramdaman ang pagbaba ng presyo sa merkado, ‘yun naman ang nakakapikon,” Marcos said.

“Nahihirapan ang mga farmers. They’re still suffering from low prices, and yet the consumers are not benefitting from the falling price. Ano ba ‘yun?” she added.

Marcos said she called on the SRA to help increase raw sugar prices, considering their recent request to restore the P2 billion budget granted under the Sugar Industry Development Act.

She mentioned that the SRA failed to utilize the entire P2 billion budget, which was reduced to P500 million.

“They are requesting a P2 billion budget, even P5 billion, but they need to show us first that the sugar prices have improved,” she said./JB, WDJ