• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson wants “strong evidence,” in order for him to support the call of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, for the Senate Blue Ribbon panel to conduct a probe on what she called “government-sponsored” smuggling.
If there’s really strong evidence, the Senate should at least consider investigating it, Lacson said, as he recalled that the Senate has been very aggressive in the conduct of investigations, noting also that Senate president Juan Miguel Zubiri, comes from the sugar producing province of Bukidnon.
Negros Occidental, the Philippines top sugar producing province, contributes about 60 percent to the country’s sugar output.
Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned the entry of 260 20-foot containers containing sugar at the port of Batangas, ahead of the official release of Sugar Order No. 6 by the Sugar Regulatory Administration on February 15, calling it “bewildering and highly disturbing.”
SO No. 6 allows the importation of 440,000 metric tons (MT) refined sugar to help tame the high prices of sugar in the local market.
Hontiveros has filed Senate Resolution No. 497 urging the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to look into the issue and look into the provisions of SO No. 6 that may be open to abuse, patronage and cartelization.
The Save the Sugar Industry Movement (SAVE-SIM) earlier called on the SRA and other regulatory agencies of the government to investigate the alleged corruption in the sugar industry.
Strongly condemning the alleged corruption in the importation of 440,000 MT of sugar, SAVE-SIM lead convenor Wennie Sancho also called on SRA to be firm and consistent in the enforcement of its regulatory authority to protect the welfare of the small farmers and producers, particularly on the approval of import permits in the determination of how much can be imported, without any drastic effects on the stakeholders of the sugar industry.
If the prices of sugar will drastically go down, Lacson said it will hurt most the small planters.
Sugar producers noted a drop of prices of 50-kilogram bag of sugar, from its peak of P3,600 last month to P3,000 last week.
He also anticipates a lower production of sugar next year, due to unfavorable weather, high price of fertilizers and production costs.
Lacson also said that the importation of sugar, as approved by the SRA, remains to be seen, if that was a correct decision.
“I hope the volume and timing of sugar importation will not lead to considerable drop in sugar prices,” he added.*
