By CESAR JOLITO III
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has agreed to support the direct government purchase of domestic sugar, a move backed by the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry (Nacusip), aimed at helping sugar farmers cope with a sharp decline in sugar mill gate prices.
“The key to any challenging situation is to keep talking to each other. The sugar industry belongs to all of us. We must always be willing to collaborate,” Confed President Aurelio Valderrama said, following a meeting with SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona and Nacusip President Roland de la Cruz at the House of Representatives.
During the meeting, Confed called for the creation of a technical working group to design the mechanics of a government sugar buying program.
The proposal comes amid growing concerns from sugar-producing regions over low domestic prices, which lawmakers linked to unregulated imports of sugar, molasses and artificial sweeteners such as sucralose.
Confed has also submitted a proposed measure revising Republic Act No. 10659, the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015, which aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of the SRA and promote the sustainability and competitiveness of the sugarcane industry.
Lawmakers at a recent congressional inquiry expressed support for amendments to the SRA charter to better regulate sugar imports and artificial sweeteners, citing their adverse effects on local producers.
Advocates stressed that the legislative reforms should include infrastructure improvements for sugarcane farmers and broader support for the domestic sugar sector, ensuring farmer livelihoods and protecting the Philippine sugar industry from increasing international competition.
Earlier, Nacusip urged sugar board officials, including SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, to step down, blaming the agency’s leadership for policy decisions that allegedly worsened the crisis facing the local sugar industry.
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.
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./CJ, WDJ