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[av_heading heading=’NO COKE PRODUCTS IN BACOLAODIAT? I am pro-sugar industry – Bing ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia has yet to disclose his official stand on the request of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (Unifed) to ban Coca-Cola products in the Bacolaodiat Festival in the city February next year.
Yesterday, Leonardia said he has yet to receive official communication from Unifed head Manuel Lamata regarding the request.
“Officially wala ko kabaton, although unofficially I made some talks with them,” Leonardia added. According to him, he finds the request “meritorious.”
Leonardia said the request was made for the survival of the local sugar industry, which can affect not only Bacolod but the entire province.
“The sugar industry plays a vital role in our economy. The bottom line is, our people are being affected by this,” added Leonardia.
The mayor said he has yet to talk to the Bacolaodiat Festival organizers. Until then, he cannot yet make an official announcement.
“I’m now expressing my personal views on the matter. I am pro-sugar industry,” he stressed.
Bacolaodiat is the city’s version of the Chinese New Year celebration.
For the past years, the celebration has attracted not only the members of the Filipino-Chinese community in Negros Occidental but also some tourists from across Western Visayas.
In October, the Silver MassKara Festival Organization (SMFO) and the Sangguniang Panlungsod declared that Coca-Cola products are banned in the MassKara Festival.
SMFO director Eli Francis Tajanlangit said they stand together with sugar industry leaders in opposing the use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
“The sugar industry is our lifeblood, our heritage and our patrimony. No matter how distant, all of us are connected to it, one way or the other. Some of us may no longer be direct participants in the industry now, but we are all heirs of sugar. The sugar industry is us,” Tajanlangit said in a statement.
On Dec. 10, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the fight against HFCS was “won.”
Zubiri – who was in the province to meet local chief executives and sugar industry leaders – said the excise tax on HFCS is P12, which is 50 percent higher than those of other sugar substitutes at P6, under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion bill./PN
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