By CESAR JOLITO III
A lawmaker has criticized the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for allowing large-scale sugar importation despite existing surplus, warning that the policy has triggered billions in losses for the local sugar industry.
In a privilege speech, Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez said SRA’s Sugar Order No. 8 authorized the importation of 424,000 metric tons of refined sugar — far exceeding the 50,000 metric tons recommended by local industry leaders.
Benitez said the influx of imported sugar flooded the domestic market at a critical time, coinciding with the milling season when farmers were delivering their harvests.
As a result, millgate prices sharply declined from a stable range of P2,500 to P2,800 per 50-kilobag to as low as P2,000 to P2,200 by January 2026 — dropping below the estimated production cost.
He added that molasses prices also plunged by 56 percent, from P17,000 to P7,500 per ton, contributing to industry losses estimated at P7.28 billion between October and December 2025.
If current conditions persist, Benitez warned, total losses could exceed P20 billion by mid-2026.
The lawmaker earlier dismissed claims that congressional hearings triggered the price decline, saying the oversupply had long been known within the industry.
“Traders did not stop buying because of a congressional inquiry. They stopped because their warehouses were already full,” Benitez said, emphasizing that market saturation — not legislative scrutiny — caused the downturn.
He also noted that a brief uptick in sugar prices was driven by export shipments to the United States under the 2025 World Trade Organization tariff rate quota, but prices fell again once shipments concluded.
According to Benitez, the core issue lies in the SRA’s importation policy, which he said introduced more sugar into the market than it could absorb.
The SRA, along with the Department of Agriculture, had earlier imposed a moratorium on molasses imports in October 2025, later extending it to March 2026 and considering a further extension through the end of the year.
However, Benitez argued that these measures were merely reactive, addressing a problem created by the agency itself.
He also raised concerns over transparency, noting that the SRA has twice refused to provide Congress with a list of traders allocated import volumes under Sugar Order No. 8.
“The agency issued an order that produced the very harm it was supposed to prevent,” he said.
Benitez maintained that congressional inquiries are necessary to ensure accountability and craft corrective measures, stressing that lawmakers will continue to push for reforms to protect Filipino farmers from market instability./CJ, WDJ