BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo yesterday welcomed the heightened effort of the national government in the campaign against reported hoarding of sugar amid tight supply and soaring prices.
Yulo, who served as Sugar Regulatory Administration board member, said the raid conducted by Bureau of Customs (BOC) operatives on a warehouse in Pampanga that is allegedly involved in hoarding sugar “is part of government’s drive to ensure sufficient domestic supply.”
While he cannot confirm that there is hoarding of sugar, Yulo said “what is important is that government is taking active and aggressive steps towards stabilization of sugar supply” in the country.
Government now plans to import 150,000MT of refined sugar, half of the 300,000MT proposed by the Sugar Regulatory Administration. The SRA proposal, as contained in the Sugar Order Number 4, was however rejected by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, in her virtual attendance to a Palace press briefing, said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is drafting a proposal to import 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar after leading players in the soda industry announced that they are dealing with a shortage of refined sugar.
Cruz-Angeles said this proposed quantity is expected to increase the supply of sugar used in food manufacturing to protect jobs.
In a report by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), agents of the Clark-based Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and the Enforcement and Security Service–Quick Reaction Team found thousands of sacks of Thai sugar inside a storage building in Brgy. Del Pilar, San Fernando City, Pampanga.
During the raid, Customs agents were able to seize sacks of sugar imported from Thailand, suspected to be hoarded, as well as hundreds of sacks of sugar inside delivery vans. Aside from the sugar, authorities also found several imported items, including sacks of corn starch from China, sacks of flour, plastic products, oil in plastic barrels, motorcycle parts and wheels of different brands, helmets, LED television sets and paint.
Authorities gave the warehouse owners 15 days to present the necessary documents to prove that the items were legally imported.
Malacañang warned unscrupulous traders against hoarding sugar in a bid to take advantage of the current supply concerns in the country.
Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez said that his office is investigating reports that certain traders are “aggressively” pushing for the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar to use it as a “cover” to release sugar they have hoarded.*
