• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Accusing them of having betrayed the sugar industry they swore to protect, the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP) urgently called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to replace the current members of the Sugar Regulatory Board, including Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, planters representative David Andrew Sanson, and millers representative Ma. Mitzi Mangwag.
NACUSIP president Roland de la Cruz, in his letter to President Marcos Jr dated February 28, alleged that the repeated failures of SRA board members to protect the industry, refusal to release the minutes of the meeting on Sugar Order No. 8 despite numerous requests in multiple channels, which led to reckless over-importation and flooded the market with imported sugar and has devastated local producers, not to mention the absence of transparency and accountability, which stains the advocacy of Bagong Pilipinas in its drive against graft and corruption.
Farmers watched helplessly as their livelihood was destroyed, while SRA Board Members dismissed their suffering with arrogance and blame-shifting, said dela Cruz, who is also the vice president of TUCP.
Unscrupulous traders have manipulated the market, exploiting the sweat and sacrifice of our farmers, the NACUSIP president further said, noting that the absence of a government sugar buying program has left them defenseless, forced to sell their harvest at prices that barely cover costs.
Dela Cruz also requested President Marcos Jr. to establish a program that ensures fair profits for farmers in providing sufficient income to support their families, without incurring debt due to losses, while protecting them from exploitation.
This is not just an economic necessity; it is a moral imperative that will provide lasting and sustainable relief to our farmers, he added.
Dela Cruz further claimed that the continuing stay of those personalities in the Sugar Board is a death sentence for the sugar industry.
“We respectfully pray for you to take swift and decisive action in support of the hardworking people who sustain our nation, and to help safeguard the future of the sugar industry,” the labor leader said.
The demand for SRA board members to resign was also aired by dela Cruz during the congressional inquiry on the state of the sugar industry on Feb. 25 at the House of Representatives.
A NACUSIP-TUCP affiliated organization in the 5th district of Negros Occidental recently availed of farm equipment from the SRA, which is now aiming to achieve “zero backlog” in the distribution of support system to agrarian reform beneficiaries and small sugarcane farmers, which was not fully implemented by the previous administration, under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) 2015.*
