By CESAR JOLITO III
The Sugar Council has doubled down on its call to replace the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) Sugar Board, backing a manifesto signed by 93 industry leaders nationwide, even as labor groups simultaneously pushed for sweeping institutional reforms in sugar industry governance.
The council said the growing clamor from farmers, mill workers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and sectoral groups “cannot be wrong,” stressing that the signatories represent a broad majority of stakeholders in the country’s sugar sector.
It reiterated criticisms against the SRA’s importation policies, alleging that decisions on sugar orders were implemented without full stakeholder consultation and contributed to declining mill gate prices and significant revenue losses.
“The Sugar Board’s failure to manage sugar supply and demand, particularly due to its import replenishment program without proper consultation with the stakeholders as required by law, directly caused the decline in mill gate sugar prices,” the Sugar Council said.
The group maintained that while importation is necessary, it must be “science-based, calibrated, transparent, and driven by market data,” and accused the agency of exceeding or mismanaging import volumes based on its own data reports.
“We do not take lightly calling for the Sugar Board’s replacement. However, we have to if we want to restore confidence in the industry,” the council said.
The council also estimated that reduced prices have caused over P12 billion in foregone national revenue, including P7.5 billion in losses in Negros alone, calling these figures “indisputable facts that cannot be ignored.”
“We appeal to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to intervene in the sugar industry’s hour of great need,” the council said.
TUCP pushes for SRA structural reform
Amid the escalating debate, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) renewed its call for the passage of House Bill No. 8376, which seeks to restructure the SRA to ensure broader and more genuine sectoral representation.
The proposed measure would expand the composition of the SRA governance structure to include sugar millers, planters, agrarian reform beneficiaries, field workers, mill workers, ethanol workers, and consumer groups.
TUCP said the reform is urgent in light of what it described as worsening conditions in the industry, including “an avalanche of imported sugar, unchecked molasses importation, and unregulated entry of sugar substitutes.”
“We reiterate our urgent call for the overhaul of the SRA,” said TUCP Party-list Representative and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza, author of the bill.
He stressed that current policy decisions have been made “without full consultation, without complete publication of minutes and deliberations, and without adequate representation of stakeholders.”
Mendoza noted that the SRA, created under Executive Order No. 18 in 1986, predates the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, adding that agrarian reform beneficiaries now account for an estimated 80 percent of sugar production and should therefore have direct representation in policymaking.
He added that the expanding signature campaign of sugar workers and stakeholders should guide legislative reforms aimed at democratizing the SRA and strengthening worker participation in shaping industry policy.
The parallel calls from industry leaders and labor groups highlight mounting tensions within the sugar sector as competing proposals emerge on whether to replace the current regulatory leadership or overhaul its structure entirely./CJ, WDJ