By CESAR JOLITO III
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has rejected claims of non-transparency surrounding the planned export of 100,000 metric tons of sugar to the United States, saying the agency followed established procedures and acted in response to persistently low domestic sugar prices.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the agency itself was awaiting the official release of the sugar order, stressing that publication undergoes a formal process after approval by the Sugar Board.
Azcona explained that sugar orders are first forwarded to the University of the Philippines for recording before being officially released and published.
He issued the clarification in response to criticisms from the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Nacusip-TUCP), which questioned the absence of a published sugar order and alleged a lack of transparency.
Azcona noted that Nacusip-TUCP has long been involved in the sugar industry and should be familiar with the established procedures governing sugar orders.
“To claim a lack of transparency at this stage is premature,” he said.
According to the SRA, the decision to allow exports was part of a series of measures aimed at stabilizing sugar prices amid increased production and market imbalances.
Azcona said sugar output rose to its highest level in five years, a development announced as early as June 2025 following the close of milling operations.
At the same time, the agency identified a shortfall in refined sugar production.
Data from the SRA showed that refineries produced only 618,388 metric tons of refined sugar for crop year 2024-2025, far below the country’s annual demand of more than one million metric tons.
This gap prompted the earlier importation of refined sugar, which Azcona said drew little opposition at the time due to favorable market prices.
Azcona also disputed suggestions that the SRA should have imported raw sugar instead of refined sugar, saying such a move would have further oversupplied the local market.
Consultation?
Azcona also said that Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson had not consulted the SRA on the matter.
The SRA said it began engaging stakeholders as early as October 2025 after sugar prices opened low at the start of the milling season.
Meetings were held with traders and industry groups, including the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations and the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, to address price concerns.
In early December, the agency appealed to exporters to ship out raw sugar to ease domestic oversupply.
This was coupled with a declaration that no sugar importation would be allowed until December 2026, a position that was communicated to industry groups and reiterated in subsequent stakeholder meetings.
Azcona said most stakeholders agreed with the “no importation” policy, Sugar Order No. 2, and the planned export to the United States.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. later directed the SRA to monitor market response and authorized the export option if prices failed to recover by January 8.
Following continued weak prices, the Sugar Board approved and signed the sugar export order on January 9.
The document was forwarded to the University of the Philippines on January 12 and has since been officially published on the SRA website.
“With the sugar order now publicly available, allegations of secrecy are unfounded,” Azcona said, adding that the export move was intended to help improve farmgate prices and ease the burden on sugar farmers./CJ, WDJ