
By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
ARTIFICIAL SUGAR crisis. And Negros Occidental, the “Sugar Bowl” of the country, is currently languishing from it.
Who said it?
It is Negros Occidental 5th District’s Rep. Dino Yulo.
Yulo is a sugar planter and one of the top executives of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) during the administration of the late president Noynoy Aquino.
It is weird to hear and note that the country is in the midst of an artificial sugar crisis.
But what is this artificial sugar crisis all about?
Let’s start with the word “artificial”. Oxford Dictionary defines it as made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural.
Simply put: There is/are somebody manipulating or behind this artificial sugar crisis.
Who? The planters? The millers? The traders?
GAMING THE INDUSTRY
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers’ Association (GAWA), believes there is somebody gaming the sugar industry.
Thus, GAWA, which also includes sugar farm workers, is 100% supporting Yulo’s push for an immediate congressional inquiry re: artificial sugar crisis.
Sancho wonders, too, why despite the claim of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that there is no oversupply of sugar and no importation, the price of locally-produced sugar continues to plummet since October to date.
From P3,000 something per bag (50 kilograms), it dove to only P2.4000 (bag). A more than P600 per bag reduction is too much to bear for sugar planters, especially the small ones or the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs). Hence Yulo, whose heart “bleeds” for these small planters, can’t take the “silent crisis” victimizing the “sweetest industry” in the country.
BLAMING GAME
But SRA, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) tasked to govern the sugar industry, seemed to be detached on the issue. And its chief, Pablo Azcona, is having a rift with the Sugar Council, a group of sugar planters’ associations across the country.
Instead of collaborating with the sugar honchos (hacienderos), whose expertise when it comes to sugar industry is beyond question, SRA accuses them of having wrong sources of information, or fake news about the present brouhaha.
So, the wounds inflicting the sugar industry are deepening, thus, hurting.
‘NERVE-JANGLING’
The current situation in the sugar industry can be described as “nerve-jangling,” leaving stakeholders “wishing under the moon” for the artificial crisis to end soon.
In the meantime, however, Yulo emphasizes that the Holiday season in Negros Occidental has turned “bitter.” Known as a no-nonsense individual, Yulo’s words carry weight and are far from meaningless. His call for a Congressional inquiry into the industry’s current turmoil is pressing and significant.
For some, the artificial sugar crisis may be a hushed topic, but for those directly affected, it’s causing their “nerves” to fray. Yulo is sounding the alarm, but SRA, it seems, remains indifferent—or at least appears apathetic—toward the issue. Why?
The ongoing verbal feud between SRA and the Sugar Council reveals deep-seated animosity within the industry, making the state of sugar production metaphorically — and literally — “bitter”. If this discord persists, what future lies ahead for the sugar industry?
The pressing questions are: Will the industry recover? Or will it remain perpetually “bitter” — low in mill gate prices but high in market costs?
Personally, I take Yulo’s statements seriously. When he says there is a crisis in the sugar industry, I believe him. Negrenses, therefore, have no choice but to brace themselves for this sugar crisis, whether it is artificial or temporary.
Yet the most puzzling and intriguing question remains: Who is playing this game, and who stands to gain from the ongoing sugar crisis?
Sadya! Pero, sin-o?/PN