Marcos addresses sugar shortage

FOLLOWING THE halt in productions of soft drinks due to the shortage of sugar supply in the country, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the government is exerting all efforts to address domestic sugar supply issues.

Marcos made this remark during a recent consultation with food manufacturers in Malacañang, where he raised the need to assess how the government can increase the supply of quality sugar for food manufacturing to protect local jobs.

“It has become a worrisome problem. We are doing all of these things to protect the jobs of workers in those industries. So we are studying several measures that we can take to immediately increase the supply of sugar in the country,” he said.

Marcos said the government is also working on sugar prices and is in talks with traders for them to bring down the prices of the commodity. “Hopefully, we can get some concessions with the traders so that at least the pricing will be reasonable. The concern is the supply right now. I’ll make sure that there is sufficient supply in the country so that you can operate at full capacity,” he said.

Another area that has to be looked into is direct importation by food manufacturers with the approval of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) as part of emergency measures to address current industry concerns.

Marcos said although there is a need for the country to increase sugar production in the future, the current pressing concerns of food producers must be addressed. But industry players said if the government were to consider importation for industrial use, it must act now to secure supply from global sugar exporters since they may allocate their produce to other markets.

The President earlier recognized that there might be a need to import sugar to stabilize domestic prices of the commodity.

Marcos previously said that he would reorganize the SRA in an effort to find ways to address issues plaguing the sugar industry. “We’ll reorganize the SRA and then we will come to an arrangement with the industrial consumers, with the planters, the millers, suppliers of the sugar to coordinate para talaga kung ano ‘yung mayroon, kung ano ‘yung available, mailabas na sa merkado,” he said.

He also pointed out that there is a need to immediately address the problems hounding the industry to avert a looming sugar shortage, which may affect local sugar workers and their families. “Because right now, they are starting to cut down the days of the week na nagtatrabaho and we are very worried of course about jobs. So ‘yun ang iniintindi ko talaga right now,” he said.

The sugar situation is similar to other agricultural commodities in the country, according to Marcos who said the government is being compelled to import to replenish local requirements when there is shortage in production. “To cut production costs, the government extends subsidies and fertilizer to farmers,” he emphasized. 

Marcos earlier ordered an investigation into a failed attempt to import some 300,000 tons of sugar, according to Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, saying the Sugar Order No. 4 issued by the SRA, which supposedly directs the importation of sugar, is allegedly illegal.

“The Chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board is President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. As such, the chairman sets the date of any meetings or convening of the Sugar Regulatory Board and its agenda. No such meeting was authorized by the President or such a resolution likewise, was not authorized,” Angeles bared, adding the resolution appears to have been signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of Marcos.

Angeles said Sebastian was not authorized to sign on behalf of Marcos. “He (Sebastian) was not authorized to sign such a resolution because the President did not authorize the importation,” Angeles said, adding importations are a sensitive matter, particularly concerning agricultural imports.

“Sugar is one such importation which we take great care with. It is a balancing act. The importation has to be carefully studied to protect both the consumer against the rising prices of basic commodities while ensuring at the same time that we do not destroy the local industry,” Angeles said.

Sebastian eventually resigned from his post shortly after Marcos ordered the probe. But now, Marcos has approved the importation of some 150 tons of sugar. (Mindanao Examiner)