By CESAR JOLITO III
Labor group National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry in the Philippines (Nacusip) urged sugar board officials, including Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), to step down, blaming the agency’s leadership for policy decisions that allegedly worsened the crisis facing the local sugar industry.
During the public hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food on the sugar industry yesterday, Nacusip President Roland dela Cruz said the call for resignation stemmed from the SRA’s handling of sugar imports and its response to the growing influx of sugar substitutes, which he said have severely affected sugar workers, farmers and producers.
“This happened within the SRA, and the public deserves to know who should be held accountable,” Dela Cruz said, stressing that the decisions have had direct and damaging consequences on the livelihoods of thousands of sugar workers nationwide.
Dela Cruz noted that as early as 2024, the SRA had already acknowledged the surge of sugar substitutes in the market yet still allowed large volumes of sugar imports under SRA Order No. 8.
He questioned why the agency approved additional imports despite warnings from industry stakeholders.
He pointed out that while stakeholders initially sought around 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, actual imports ballooned to nearly half a million MT, further depressing local prices.
The statement was issued as the House of Representatives convened a public hearing yesterday to tackle the challenges confronting the sugar industry, including import policies, the rise of sugar substitutes, and governance issues within the SRA.
Industry data showed that mill gate prices fell sharply as the milling season opened in October 2025, dropping to an average of P2,200 per 50-kilogram bag — nearly P300 below estimated production costs and significantly lower than the P2,700 to P2,800 opening prices recorded in the previous crop year.
The price collapse followed a convergence of adverse factors, including weather-related production losses, pest infestations — particularly red-striped soft scale insects that affected over 1,500 hectares of sugarcane farms — and weakened cane quality due to prolonged dry spells followed by persistent rains.
These challenges were compounded by market uncertainty linked to the implementation of Sugar Order No. 8, which authorized the importation of up to 424,000 MT of refined sugar for the 2024-2025 crop year.
Although the imported sugar was classified as reserve stock, arrivals from July to November 2025 overlapped with the start of domestic milling, unsettling market confidence and exerting downward pressure on prices.
Meanwhile, former Negros Occidental Governor Lito Coscolluela also pushed for sweeping reforms within the SRA, calling for a restructuring of its organizational setup to make the agency more capable of implementing its programs effectively.
Coscolluela further proposed increasing the Sugarcane Industry Development Program budget to P5 billion from P2 billion, including P1 billion earmarked for the Sugarcane Mill Improvement Program.
He is a former president and current consultant of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc./CJ, WDJ