BACOLOD City – A labor federation representing workers in the sugar industry has urged Negros leaders to prioritize direct financial assistance for farmers and workers affected by the Red-striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation while advocating science-based pest control measures over what it described as costly aerial spraying operations.
In an open letter, Roland C. de la Cruz, national president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) and the Philippine Agricultural Commercial Industrial Workers Union (PACIWU), commended the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental for their emergency response to the infestation.
De la Cruz lauded Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for declaring a state of calamity, enabling the release of the province’s Quick Response Fund. He also recognized Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria for organizing a provincial task force and urged the provincial board to expedite the declaration of a state of calamity.
Citing data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and local agriculture offices, NACUSIP said the infestation has affected more than 78,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations on Negros Island, including 61,242 hectares in Negros Occidental and 16,970 hectares in Negros Oriental.
The labor group called on local governments to channel calamity funds into emergency cash assistance and crop subsidies for sugar farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and farm and mill workers who have suffered income losses due to the pest outbreak.
“We ask local government leaders to deliver emergency calamity funds directly into the hands of the individuals working the soil,” De la Cruz said, stressing that immediate financial assistance should take precedence over lengthy bureaucratic processes.
NACUSIP also questioned the effectiveness of drone and aerial chemical spraying, arguing that RSSI feeds on the underside of sugarcane leaves, making overhead spraying less effective.
Instead, the group urged the SRA to intensify biological control measures and targeted ground spraying, which it described as more science-based and environmentally sustainable.
However, the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) defended aerial spraying as a necessary component of the industry’s response to the infestation.
UNIFED President Manuel Lamata said the federation, together with chemical supplier DC Cruz, will conduct a forum to address concerns over the use of systemic pesticides through aerial spraying and explain the safety measures being observed.
Lamata disputed claims that aerial spraying is ineffective because the insects stay beneath the leaves, saying such criticism comes from individuals who have not attended the technical briefings on the intervention.
According to Lamata, aerial spraying uses low-pass applications designed to thoroughly drench sugarcane fields with systemic pesticides. He added that aircraft equipped with vortex nozzles generate a downward air current that helps the chemicals penetrate the crop canopy and reach the target areas.
“We have to do something on a large scale as the interventions being introduced by some sectors are for the long term and will not save thousands of hectares of standing crops at this point,” Lamata said.
While expressing support for the provincial government’s plan to implement biological control measures, Lamata stressed the need for immediate large-scale intervention to protect standing crops and minimize losses during the upcoming milling season.
The RSSI infestation continues to threaten sugar production across Negros, with government agencies, planters’ groups, and labor organizations advancing different approaches to contain the pest and mitigate its economic impact./PN
