Local labor group General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) has called on the leaders of the sugar industry to consult with workers’ groups on several concerns.
In a statement, GAWA secretary-general Wennie Sancho said the issues hounding the sugar industry are like “a vicious circle,” pointing out that there should be “widespread consultation on sugar-related issues.”
“The failure of the government to capacitate the agricultural sector exacerbates the situation. The unscrupulous sugar traders are getting rich at the expense of the sugar workers,” Sancho said.
The pressing issues in the sugar industry include the importation and use of artificial sugar, such as high fructose corn syrup, which “directly impact workers,” he said.
Sancho lamented that the industry leaders hold meetings as “if we don’t exist.”
“We were not invited. Workers should have representation,” he said.
“When there are problems, they ask for our help. But when there’s profit, they forget us,” he added.
Sancho said the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) should identify sugar planters and millers, who are also sugar traders, to prevent conflict of interests.
“Please remember that the hands of the workers create the wealth of the nation. We are your partners involved in the decision-making process,” he added.
SIDA fund
Meanwhile, sugar stakeholders agreed to push for the P2 billion Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) fund for 2025, which aims to improve sugar production and efficiency.
However, only P1 billion has been allocated for the 2025 National Expenditure Program, which is pending deliberation in Congress.
Republic Act 10659, or the SIDA of 2015, passed into law in the 15th Congress, is intended to increase production efficiency in sugarcane farms and sugar mills through research and technological innovation, infrastructure and human resource development.
SRA administrator Rafael Coscolluela, speaking for the Sugar Council, said they are proposing the inclusion of the sugar milling sector in the SIDA programs.
“If we hope to improve the efficiency of the sugarcane industry, we cannot ignore the efficiency challenges faced by the milling sector,” Coscolluela said.
He added that they would like to include a full-time SIDA program management structure with SRA oversight function over it for the efficient, effective and timely implementation of SIDA programs.
Coscolluela said the industry is also seeking the institutionalization of the Stakeholders Consultative Assembly to fill the gap left by the Sugar Alliance of the Philippines, which is no longer active.
The Sugar Council is composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers.
Earlier, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said SIDA had an initial allocation of P1.8 billion in 2016, but it was not fully utilized.
The fund gradually went down to as low as P320 million, but in 2023 and 2024, it went up to P1 billion a year, Azcona said./WDJ