BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson disagrees with claims of some sectors that there is a “sugar crisis” amid reports of shortage in supply and soaring retail prices, that also prompted the government to import sugar.
I don’t think there is, Lacson said, adding that retail sugar is still available in local markets, although the prices have gone up.
“It’s just the price, but obviously it’s not us planters whose benefitting from that. It’s always the traders, the governor, who is also a sugar planter, said.
Lacson stressed the need for the Department of Trade Industry to investigate the high prices of sugar in the market.
He also said that there is no quarrel with importation, noting that there are also sugar leaders who are saying the importation is okay, but it should be refined not just raw sugar.
It is just we have to agree on the volume, its timing when to come in, and to watch for possible smuggling, he added.
“When there is importation, there is a tendency for smuggling,” Lacson stressed.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said that the government may import 150,000 MT of sugar in October, half of the 300,000 MT earlier proposed by the Sugar Regulatory Administration, if there is a depletion of supply.*
