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Monday, May 1, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The importation and use of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in lieu of locally produced sugar is a labor issue, groups said.
The Philippines is observing Labor Day today.
“We are raising this issue on the celebration of Labor Day because we will face an economic crisis if the sugar industry collapses,” said the General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) and Save the Sugar Industry Movement (Save-SIM).
Negros may fall into a “state of calamity” if the importation of the alternative sweetener is not stopped and Sugar Order No. 3 of the Sugar Regulatory Administration is not strictly enforced, the groups said.
“The shock waves will be felt by all stakeholders, as Negros solely depends on the sugar industry as its lifeblood,” stressed Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the GAWA and Save-SIM.
Sugar industry stakeholders have been critical to the HFCS, an imported sweetener that many beverage companies use, saying it undermines locally produced sugar and thus adversely affects farmworkers.
Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc., which has a bottling plant in Barangay Mansilingan, has particularly taken a hit. Protests have been held in front of the facility.
Sanchos said the continued use and importation of HFCS is “an injustice to (sugar industry) workers.” The cane knife that cane cutters may become “a weapon for defiance and revenge if the sugar industry collapses,” he said.
The labor sector is also demanding that Coca-Cola “show documentary evidence that they are using 100-percent domestic sugar in their soft drink products,” said Sancho. “Until [then] … we will continue to doubt their sincerity, and we shall continue to boycott Coca-Cola products.”
Several local governments in Negros Occidental have banned Coke products during festivals and similar events. The beverage company claimed to be using “100-percent” locally sourced sugar but only after admitting to using HFCS.
“In solidarity with all workers and stakeholders in the sugar industry, GAWA, Save-SIM and other allied organizations declared to hold massive protest actions against Coca-Cola and other industrial users importing HFCS, and shall do everything within their means to ensure the survival of the sugar industry, because economic survival is dependent on the sugar industry, including [the workers’] livelihood, the welfare of their families and their future,” Sancho said./PN
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