• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Sugar mills are urged to increase trucking allowance for sugar farmers, amid rising fuel costs, caused by the armed conflict in the Middle East.
In a letter to sugar mills nationwide, Sugar Regulatory Board Member David Andrew Sanson (planters’ representative) disclosed that an “increase in trucking allowance and other measures“ aims to augment government relief efforts in addressing the sudden and steep surge of fuel prices.
In Negros Island, which produces more than 60 percent of the country’s sugar, diesel prices have breached P120 per liter in most areas, which Sanson said has “significantly increased the cost of transporting canes from the farms to the mills.”
This, he added, has “placed a substantial financial burden to our sugar farmers and threatens the continuity of cane supply.”
Sanson said he hopes that the sugar mills can increase trucking allowances for farmers to help offset fuel costs, for “humanitarian reasons,” until such time that fuel prices normalize.
“We are all trying to survive this crisis and I hope the sugar industry stakeholders will come together to help each other and to ensure the future of our beloved sugar industry,” he added.*
