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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Monday, February 6, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Fifteen lawmakers want the House of Representatives to look into the importation of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that critics claim is detrimental to the local sugar industry.
One of them, Rep. Greg G. Gasataya, will deliver today a privilege speech on the “alternative sweetener” and the potential problems it poses.
Gasataya said he and his fellow lawmakers from sugar-producing provinces will introduce a resolution urging appropriate House committees to hold an inquiry in aid of legislation on the “impact of the importation, use and sale of the HFCS in the Philippines on the sustainability of the sugar industry.”
Lawmakers have the “duty and obligation” to “protect our sugar industry,” said the Bacolod City congressman.
An imported alternative sweetener made from corn starch, the HFCS is widely used in the production of carbonated drinks and processed food. “There is a controversy over the health risks presented by the consumption of the HFCS,” stated the draft resolution to be submitted today.
Negros Island Region, the “Sugar Bowl of the Philippines” and producer of 57 percent of the Philippines’ total domestic sugar, considers the sugar industry the “lifeblood” of its economy, the resolution said.
With the entry of the HFCS, Negros would incur around 65 percent in domestic sugar production losses, the resolution stated, citing the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Inc.
Sugarcane farmers, farmworkers and landowners, as well as cooperatives have expressed to their respective local governments concern on the adverse effects of the importation, use and sale of the HFCS on the sugar industry, it said.
“There is a need to regulate the importation, sale and use of the HFCS to protect our sugar industry…and the health of our consumers,” and help make locally produced sugar “competitive in domestic and international markets,” the resolution further stated.
Aside from Gasataya, other Negros Island Region lawmakers authored the resolution: Melecio J. Yap Jr., Leo Rafael M. Cueva, Alfredo B. Benitez, Juliet Marie D. Ferrer, Alejandro Y. Mirasol, Mercedes K. Alvarez (Negros Occidental, 1st to 6th districts, respectively), Jocelyn S. Limkaichong, Manuel T. Sagarbarria, and Arnulfo A. Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental, 1st to 3rd districts, respectively).
Their coauthors included Manuel F. Zubiri (Bukidnon, 3rd District), Noel L. Villanueva (Tarlac, 3rd District), Emmanuel A. Billones (Capiz, 1st District), Joseph Stephen S. Paduano (Abang Lingkod party-list), and Arcadio H. Gorriceta (Iloilo, 2nd District).
The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, Inc. (Confed) also joined the call for the government, specifically the Sugar Regulatory Administration, to act on the entry of the HFCS. It said the continued use of the alternative sweetener was “bound to kill the sugar industry.”
In 2016, HFCS imports reached 234,863 metric tons, or 352,294.5 metric tons of locally produced sugar, the Confed said, citing records from the Bureau of Customs.
“This spells a loss of P10.5 billion, and since sugar farming is still the economic lifeblood of Negros, this will result in an economic disaster if not addressed,” Confed national president Francis de la Rama said.
“Our research shows that beverage companies [shifted to] using higher volumes of artificial sweeteners (mostly HFCS) in the formulation of their beverage products at the expense of domestically produced sugar,” said de la Rama. “This high-fructose corn syrup is 100-percent imported.”/PN
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