FIGURATIVELY speaking, the sugar industry is now in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital.
It is as if the industry, just to survive, is being mechanically aided by ventilators, multi-parameter vital-sign monitors, infusion and syringe pumps, defibrillators, dialysis machines, and arterial or central venous lines.
Thus, Lord, have mercy on the sugar industry!
But why?
That is an intriguing question the public deserves an answer to.
Well, the sugar industry is in the midst of severe crises. Worse, current losses have reached a whopping P15 billion, according to estimates by industry leaders based on the latest report from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
Sad. But what exactly are these crises?
No. 1: The unabated infestation of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI).
More than 30% of the total 290,000 hectares of sugar farms on Negros Island have already been ravaged. What remains in many affected areas are standing dead crops.
Rewind: This pest crisis started in Luzon way back in 2022. So, this is no longer a novel problem.
But what has the Sugar Regulatory Administration done? Solution? None!
No. 2: Excessive importation of refined sugar, molasses and artificial sweeteners.
Because of this, prices of locally produced sugar have dropped below P2,500 per bag, the standard cost of production. As a result, there is now a glut of imported sugar.
Question: Why always import?
The answer: Your guess is as good as mine!
No. 3: Skyrocketing prices of fertilizers, chemicals and other agrochemicals.
Small sugar planters, especially the approximately 50,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) on Negros Island, can no longer stay afloat amid this harsh reality.
So, what are they saying?
Enough!
KNOCK-ON EFFECTS
Now come the so-called knock-on effects of the present brouhaha in the sugar industry. Some small planters have stopped planting sugarcane. Some of the big ones are offering their farms for lease to solar ventures.
In haciendas, farm workers may no longer receive some of their mandated benefits, such as housing allowances, medical assistance and tuition support for their children, among others, because of the losses incurred by farm owners. Some 300 college scholars currently supported by the Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. (SIFI) could also be affected. SIFI, after all, is dependent on the health of the sugar industry.
Then there is the wider economy. Stalls in malls are closing. This is a glaring sign that Negros’ purchasing power is weakening.
Most businesses are already unwell, according to Frank Carbon of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI).
The message is clear: When sugar bleeds, the rest of the Negros economy feels the pain.
EXECUTIVE MEDDLING
I talked with some industry leaders, including representatives of the labor sector, and their immediate demand is clear: President Bongbong Marcos must personally intervene in the crisis.
Aurelio Valderrama, president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc. (CONFED), supports calls for executive intervention to save the “bleeding” sugar industry.
“This is worse than the ’80s sugar crisis during the time of President Marcos Sr.,” he pointed out.
Roland de la Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP), noted that Marcos Jr. had already served concurrently as Agriculture secretary from June 2022 to November 2023. At the time, he led efforts to address the looming food crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. So, for the sake of the ailing sugar industry, de la Cruz said Marcos Jr. can do it again.
One more thing. De la Cruz said it may also be time for Marcos Jr., if necessary, to change the people occupying the top positions at the SRA, including those on the Sugar Board.
‘PERFECT STORM’
If the President ignores the plea, then the sugar industry could soon be heading toward a “perfect storm.”
“Not remote. Actually we’re almost there na!” Valderrama said.
And the consequences?
A possible rise in crimes against property.
With worsening poverty, theft (kinawatay), shabu selling and other illegal activities could increasingly become a headache for the police.
Proof?
On Aug. 8 alone, some 30 gamefowls worth P750,000 were stolen by three suspects from a cock farm in Barangay Mailum, Bago City.
Shabu selling in Bacolod and other parts of Negros Occidental also remains rampant. Weekly anti-drug operations yielding large volumes of confiscated shabu are enough reason for concern that some Bacolodnons and Negrenses may be turning to the illegal drug trade for easy money just to answer the dictates of an empty stomach.
Cigarette smuggling appears unstoppable, too. From January to July this year, around 500 police operations were conducted across the Negros Island Region, resulting in the confiscation of P200 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.
What else?
Petty crimes — akyat-bahay, snatching, pickpocketing, hold-ups and others — are also a growing concern.
BEYOND CONCERNING
Can’t the people at the SRA feel the brunt of the crises plaguing the industry? I don’t think so.
This is beyond concerning, isn’t it? Their five human senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste — must be activated now.
Even Victorias Milling Company (VMC) in Victorias City, one of Asia’s biggest sugar refineries, reported tremendous losses just this May. The 107-year-old sugar mill, now part of the Lucio Tan business conglomerate, incurred P311.8 million in losses from its sugar operations over the past nine months.
What helped keep VMC afloat despite its sugar losses was its power business, including its 40-megawatt biomass cogeneration facility and ethanol production, which generated P1.5 billion in revenues during the same nine-month period.
How about the other sugar mills on Negros Island without power cogeneration ventures to cushion their losses? If the giant is hurting, how much more the dwarfs?
NO MORE TIME TO REFLECT
In sum, the sugar industry needs immediate resuscitation. There is no more time to reflect; swift action is needed instead.
Saving the industry also means saving hundreds of thousands of sugar planters, farm workers and mill workers whose livelihoods depend on it. Simple analogy: If the big planters are “crying” now, how much more the small ones and the laborers? Kailangan pa bang i-memorize ’yan?
Thus, Valderrama said he will not stop talking and talking and talking about the current state of the sugar industry. He said he needs to be vociferous so people will understand just how ailing the industry has become — an industry that once brought Negros fame and glory across the globe.
On behalf of small planters, farm workers and mill workers, de la Cruz said he will never be “bulag, pipi at bingi.”
If the SRA or Malacañang ignores them today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and so on and so forth, they will continue speaking about the sugar industry’s current “misfortune” until their voices resonate through the halls of the Department of Agriculture, SRA and Malacañang.
After all, they said their real intention is simple: to keep fighting even what increasingly looks like a losing battle.
So, Lord, have mercy on the sugar industry!/PN
