Twenty-eight sugar farm workers from Hacienda Lolita in Barangay Luna in Negros Occidental’s Cadiz City have sought the intervention of the Department of Agriculture (DA), alleging they were denied their legally mandated three percent share in the Sugar Amelioration Bonus (SAB) and other labor benefits despite decades of service in the sugar plantation.
The workers made the appeal through a letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., urging the DA and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to step in and address what they described as years of unfair labor practices allegedly committed by their employer, Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., national president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (Confed).
The SAB is a social amelioration program established under Republic Act No. 6982 that provides sugar workers with financial benefits sourced from liens collected on sugar production. Under the law, qualified farm workers are entitled to receive a share of these funds.
In their letter, the workers said that after spending “several decades tilling the land and helping develop Valderrama’s sugarcane plantation,” they were repaid not with fair compensation but with what they described as violations of their basic labor and human rights.
“The several decades we spent cultivating the land and helping develop the sugar plantation were repaid with exploitation and violations of our human rights,” the workers stated.
They alleged that they were paid below the legally mandated minimum wage and were deprived of several benefits guaranteed under Philippine labor laws.
Among the benefits they claimed were withheld were their 13th month pay, service benefits, retirement benefits, the traditional “carabao share,” and their three percent share in SAB.
The workers also accused the management of preventing them from organizing themselves into a labor union.
“We were also prohibited from organizing ourselves or forming a union,” the letter read.
They emphasized that the issue goes beyond unpaid wages, saying the denial of workers’ right to organize further aggravated their situation as they were allegedly left without a collective voice to negotiate for better working conditions.
The workers also reminded Laurel that Valderrama previously served as SRA board member and now heads one of the country’s largest sugar producers’ organizations.
“Being a former member of the Sugar Board and leader of a major sugar group in Negros Occidental, he should know more than anyone the benefits that ordinary sugar workers are entitled to receive,” the workers said.
For this reason, they appealed to Laurel and the SRA to intervene and ensure that sugar workers receive the benefits granted to them under existing laws and social amelioration programs.
“We hope that the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration will help us in our difficult situation,” the workers wrote.
The appeal to the DA comes as the 28 workers also filed a complaint before the Department of Labor and Employment, alleging violations of the minimum wage law, non-payment of the 13th month pay, service incentive leave, retirement benefits and other labor standards.
During a press conference in Bacolod City on July 18, the workers were joined by their legal counsel, Atty. Clarence Gordoncillo, and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) – Negros chairperson Noly Rosales.
Gordoncillo said that although management classified the complainants as “pakyaw” workers, the nature and length of their employment indicate they should be recognized as regular employees entitled to the full protection and benefits provided under Philippine labor laws.
One of the complainants, 43-year-old Raffy Valentin, who said he has worked at Hacienda Lolita for 18 years, became emotional during the press conference as he appealed for justice.
Valentin claimed workers received only around P2,500 for two weeks of work, saying the amount was not enough to provide decent meals for their families.
“We are only asking for what is legally due to us,” Valentin said./WDJ