President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rejected a proposal of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar which could have eased rising prices that have hit as much as P115 per kilogram.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles in a text message to reporters yesterday said the President rejected “ in no uncertain terms” the proposal amid the tight supply and increasing inflation.
Angeles made this the statement after receiving reports the SRA Board chaired by Marcos issued Sugar Order (SO) 4 dated Aug. 9, 2022 and posted on the agency’s website yesterday.
The order was signed by DA Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian supposedly in behalf of Marcos.
The other supposed signatories in the document were SRA Board vice-chairperson Hermenegildo Serafica, board member Roland Beltran representing the millers’ sector, and Aurelio Gerardo Valderama Jr. representing the planters’ sector.
The order would have allocated 150,000 MT of sugar to industrial users and the other 150,000 MT to traders and producers.
The Department of Agriculture initially said the government is looking at importing additional 300,000-metric ton of sugar to reduce the retail price of refined sugar to P72 per kilogram from a record-high of P115 per kilogram.
The importation would have given Filipino consumers a breather from the spiraling cost of the sweetener but calls are mounting for government to institute monitoring and demand management systems that would balance supply versus price.
George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), seeks a more institutionalized approach in addressing the issues involving the shortage and high prices of sugar which are recurring over the years.
“The Department of Agriculture should institute a monitoring systems to avoid inflationary impact… while ensuring the local sugar farmers and mills would not be unduly impacted,” Barcelon said in text message.
Rep. Joey Salceda told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay has proposed ways to manage the demand for sugar.
Salceda is drafting a bill that would ban the sale of softdrinks near schools for health and economic reasons.
Salceda said the other way of managing demand on sugar is to increase tax on softdrinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, tax on SSBs rakes in P48 billion a year.
Salceda said the highest inflation is registered by sugar but its performance was down 84 percent as of the second quarter.
“You need physical regulations, other forms of regulation rather than price regulation,” Salceda added. (With Irma Isip and Jed Macapagal)
