• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Amid low prices of sugar, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday said he is hoping for a temporary stop in the importation of sugar.
Small sugar farmers have been complaining of low prices of sugar, at P2,600 per 50 kilo bag, as the Sugar Regulatory Administration is pushing for a P3,000 price level which it describes as the fair market price.
SRA is now investigating reports that somebody may be dictating, or is trying to bring down the price of sugar.
Lacson said the general idea is to maintain the price at an average of P3,000 per bag throughout the milling season.
While the price of sugar in some areas have remained low, Lacson said “we are hoping that it will pick up later.”
Lacson agrees with the statement of SRA chief Pablo Luis Azcona, who is from Negros Occidental, that somebody is dictating or trying to bring down the price.
Azcona gave assurance that the Philippines has plentiful stocks of sugar as it enters a new crop year.
The government has no immediate plans to import any additional volume of the sweetener, he said. “At this very moment, as the milling season starts, we have very ample two-month buffer stocks,” he added.
“For the crop year 2023-2024, (importing) is not yet on the table,” Azcona said.*
