Sugar industry leaders slam Agri secretary

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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Friday, March 17, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Sugar industry and labor leaders criticized Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol for wanting to suspend a Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) order regulating the importation of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Piñol claimed there were not enough consultations, especially with soft drink makers, before Sugar Order (SO) No. 3 was issued.

Save the Sugar Industry Movement “strongly denounced” the Agriculture secretary’s idea.

“The suspension will open the floodgates of HFCS importation that is detrimental to the sugar industry,” said Wennie Sancho, the group’s convener.

Administrator Anna Rosario Paner insisted that the SRA had “done the necessary consultations” before releasing SO No. 3.

Paner stressed she received 36 letters and position papers regarding the plan. She said she will speak with Piñol “to explain the side of the SRA.”

The SO No. 3 put in place regulatory measures on importing the HFCS and chemically pure fructose, including SRA permission to release such products and an international importer status.

Beverage companies, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, are now subjects of calls for boycott for using the alternative sweetener, the importation of which, critics claimed, is hurting the local sugar industry.

“Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola appealed to me, saying they were not properly consulted,” a report on the Business Mirror quoted Piñol as saying.

Citing an official of Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc., Piñol said using other types of sugar would entail the overhaul of the company’s machines and equipment, which were designed to use HFCS.

The Agriculture secretary also warned that regulating the entry of HFCS could become a “sore point” in the trade relations between Beijing and Manila because most HFCS imports are from China.

“I have recommended to President Duterte to authorize me to hold in abeyance SO [No.] 3 pending proper consultations with stakeholders,” the report quoted Piñol as saying.

Sugar and labor leaders are confused.

“Is he (Piñol) the importers?” said Atty. Archie Baribar of Kilusang Pagbabago, one of the groups that held a rally in front of the Coca-Cola plant in Barangay Mansilingan in February. “Or is he the Secretary of our small planters?”

“Whose interest is the [Agriculture] secretary is trying to protect: [those] of the people or [those] of multinational corporations?” said Sancho, also the head of the General Alliance of Workers Association.
Piñol does not have the power to suspend SO No. 3, Sancho stressed. “He should not usurp the power of the SRA administrator.”

The Cabinet secretary’s position is also “counterproductive,” the labor leader added. “His priority should be the Filipino people, not the foreign capitalists who own the beverage companies.”

“SO No. 3 is the only mechanism that could regulate the unabated entry of HFCS into the country, and Piñol wants it suspended,” said Sancho. “Can he also suspend the devastating economic consequences if the sugar industry collapses?”

Piñol plans to convene the SRA Board on March 23 to discuss HFCS importation and the possible suspension of SO No. 3.

SO No. 3 “is the solution to this crisis,” said Hernani Braza of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines.

“Piñol should be declared persona non grata for his inhuman act against the sugar industry,” Braza said.

The Agriculture secretary “should wait for the court to make a ruling,” former SRA chief Rafael Coscolluela said.

Coca-Cola is currently contesting SO No. 3 in a Quezon City court.

“Meantime it is possible for the ‘contending parties’ to sit down and negotiate for a ‘win-win’ solution until the legal, health and ethical issues are resolved,” said Coscolluella.

Meanwhile Negros Occidental vice governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Piñol “should respect the process for the rule of law, lest we start to believe that he is favoring big businesses over our small planters.”/PN

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