• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The proposed government-led sugar buying program being pushed by industry stakeholders, designed to address the oversupply of sugar, was endorsed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr., president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED).
The proposed government-led buying program, also known as the “Purchase and Park Program,” was contained in a manifesto signed by leaders of all federations, millers and refiners, labor, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and allied non-government organizations, also supported by Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, who endorsed and submitted it to Tiu-Laurel to the President for appropriate action.
Based on the SRA supply-demand report as of March 22 this year, the raw net ending stocks is 668,405MT, which is 17.5 percent higher than last crop year, according to Valderrama, adding that the refined net ending stocks is 506,804MT, which is an increase of 38.77 percent compared to previous year.
He blamed the over-supply in large measure to the excessive importation of refined sugar. Inevitably, this led mill gate prices of locally produced sugar to plunge, Valderrama further said in a statement.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson also expressed his full support for the proposed “Purchase and Park” program, which aims to address the current surplus in sugar stocks.
As the sugar capital of the Philippines, Lacson said the provincial government recognizes the vital role of the sugar industry in sustaining the livelihood of thousands of Negrense farmers, workers, and their families.
As we stand in agreement with this timely intervention, the governor said he hopes that President Marcos Jr. will approve the proposal.
Lacson also urged swift action to help stabilize prices, protect our producers, and ensure the continued vitality of an industry that is central to our economy and identity.
He also appealed to landowners to extend support to their farm workers by allowing them to cultivate food crops within available areas of their lands, as a temporary measure to help ensure food sufficiency, while the situation is being addressed.
In this time of challenge, Lacson said shared responsibility and compassion will go a long way in sustaining communities.
Valderrama also stressed the urgency of the implementation of the government-led buying program.
“We need to immediately take out the excess sugar in the market to bring stocks to a reasonable and profitable level. Whatever excess is taken out should also be refined to further delay, if not render unnecessary, the importation of refined sugar,” Valderrama said, as he also cited as contributing factor the rise in prices of petroleum products due to the conflict in the Middle East, that might lead farmers to reduce their hectarage for the next crop year.
Over-all industry productivity could drop precipitously in Crop Year 2026-2007 if farmers reduce their planted hectarage now, Valderrama shared. If this happens, he warned that the government might decide to import even more refined sugar, leading the industry into a tailspin from which it might not be able to recover.
The potential problem will affect not just big producers, many of whom have already surrendered their leased farms, he said, stressing also that small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries, who are now comprising approximately 85 percent of the total number of sugar producers, will not have the funds to continue planting, and many cannot even pay their loans anymore.
While farmers will surely carry the brunt of the losses, they are not the only ones affected by reduced productivity, Valderrama pointed out. With less tonnage to harvest, labor in farms, mills, and refineries will be seriously reduced, he added, noting also that 63 percent of total production comes from Negros.
As of the March 22 Supply-Demand report, combined foregone revenues from the drop in prices of both sugar and molasses are estimated to have reached over P12.8 billion, Valderrama revealed.
He also pointed out that the government-led buying program is not a dole out, but an investment.
More significantly, it is a critical move that will benefit producers, millers and refiners, industry workers and other dependents, consumers, and the government itself, which stands not only to recover its investment but to make a modest trading profit, the CONFED president said.*
