• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senator Juan Victor Ejercito has filed a bill seeking to amend the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) of 2015, with provisions including a proposal to increase its annual funding from P2 billion to P5 billion, to boost productivity and modernize farms.
The Senate Bill 2114, authored by Ejercito, aims to strengthen the sugar industry by expanding the mandate and composition of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, rationalizing the allocation of Sugar Industry Development Fund (SIDF), and institutionalizing systems for trade remedies and climate adaptation.
Filing the bill on May 6, Ejercito, who also authored the SIDA 2015, noted that the sugar industry continues to face long-standing challenges such as over-importation, low farm productivity, outdated milling systems, limited access to financing, weak infrastructure, and increasing global competition.
These constraints, according to the lawmaker, have hindered the industry’s ability to grow, compete, and provide a stable income for its workers.
In the explanatory note, Ejercito said that while SIDA 2015 was enacted to promote the growth and competitiveness of the Philippine sugar industry, and availability of substantial public funds, the implementation has been gravely deficient, with reported utilization rates up to 18 percent, reflecting serious gaps in absorptive capacity, planning, and program execution.
The issue of sugar importation, he added, has contributed to persistent instability in domestic supply and pricing, adversely affecting local sugar producers and industry stakeholders.
Ejercito said the proposed measure seeks to address those concerns through a comprehensive and forward looking approach, strengthen the mandate of SRA, promote more inclusive governance, expand representation with the Sugar Board, and rationalize the use of SIDF.
It also introduces mechanisms for trade remedies and safeguards to protect the local industry from unfair competition, while remaining consistent with international commitments.
The filing of Senate bill 2114, also known as “Tunay na Ugnayan, Buhay, at Oportunidad sa Asukal (TUBO) Act of 2026, came after Ejercito held series of meetings last month with various sugar federations, local government officials, and other sugar industry stakeholders in Negros Occidental.
Negros Occidental 3rd district Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez also filed a similar bill in the House of Representatives.
To boost the production of sugarcane and sugar, as well as increase the income of farmers, the proposed measure calls for the consolidation of small farms as one large farm with a minimum area of 10 hectares, within a two-kilometer radius, with SRA, Departments of Agriculture, as well as Agrarian Reform, and other concerned agencies to provide common service facilities;
To improve overall sugar recovery from cane delivered to sugar mills, helping sugar mills to reduce milling costs, a mill efficiency program shall be established with an SIDP counterpart grant-and-loan funding mechanism to encourage, or incentivize sugar mill modernization;
It also mandates the Department of Budget and Management to include a P5 billion budget in the President’s program of expenditures for submission to Congress, of which 12 percent is earmarked for block farms, six percent for socialized credit, 15 percent for research and development, two percent for scholarship grants, 30 percent for infrastructure support program, 20 percent for climate adaptation and resilience fund, 10 percent for crop diversification, and five percent for women, youth in sugar programs, starting 2027.
Ejercito earlier filed two Senate resolutions directing the Senate agriculture, food and agrarian reform to conduct an inquiry into the alleged over-importation of sugar and its impact on the local sugar industry, as well as the implementation of SIDA 2015, with the end view of identifying and addressing implementation gaps, strengthening support mechanisms for sugar farmers and industry stakeholders.*
