• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Agrarian reform beneficiaries, small farmers, field workers, and laborers from the sugar industry have submitted an open letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appealing for urgent intervention and calling for the immediate removal of top officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
In an open letter to President Marcos Jr., the workers decried the recent importation program approved by the SRA Board, which they claim caused sugar prices to crash to historic lows, while the cost of fertilizers, fuel, and other inputs continues to soar.
“The price of sugar is no longer enough to cover planting, harvesting, and the basic needs of our families,” they said. “Every sack of imported sugar arriving at our ports is like a nail driven into the coffin of our livelihood.”
They specifically pointed to Sugar Order No. 8 Series of 2024-2025, which allowed the entry of 424,000 metric tons of imported sugar right at the beginning of the milling season. They argued that the decision flooded the market and destroyed farmgate prices.
The group also expressed outrage over the refusal to disclose the minutes of the meeting behind the said order, which authorities tried to keep confidential.
They emphasized that their plight is not merely an economic statistic but a human crisis.
“We are not just numbers in a report, Mr. President. We are parents who can no longer send our children to school. We are children watching our parents grow old buried in debt. We are communities sinking deeper into poverty because those tasked to protect us chose to serve their own interests,” they stressed.
The workers and ARB are demanding the immediate resignation or removal of the entire SRA Board, including SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, Planters’ Representative Dave Andrew Sanson, Millers’ Representative Ma. Mitzi Mangwag and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr.
“They betrayed us. They turned their backs on the people whose sweat and sacrifice built this industry,” they said in a letter to the President. Their decisions did not only destroy our income; they destroyed our dignity.”
They are calling for new leaders who truly understand the value of their work, who will fight for fair prices, and who will prioritize Filipino farmers over imported goods and traders.
“We are tired of empty promises. We are tired of being sacrificed for profit. We are tired of seeing our dreams rot in the fields,” they declared.
“Hear us now, before the sugar industry—and the lives depending on it—is lost forever,” the letter said.*
