THE SUGAR industry is in crisis. The sharp drop in millgate prices — averaging ₱2,200 per 50-kilo bag (LKg) as of October 9 — has caused sugar producers and planters to cry foul.
By October 16, prices slightly improved to ₱2,300/LKg, but this remains ₱200 below the standard cost of production pegged at ₱2,500.
What are the possible consequences?
* Cost-cutting measures in hacienda operations
* Displacement of hacienda workers
* A bleak Christmas for thousands of sugar laborers
Overimportation
What caused the current sugar mess?
According to sugar planters, it’s overimportation — and they lay the blame squarely on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for ignoring their recommendation to import only 150,000 metric tons (MT) instead of the 425,000 MT approved under Sugar Order No. 8 (SO8), Series of 2024-2025.
The result: an excess of 275,000 MT — a glut that flooded the market.
‘Too much sugar at the wrong time’
Former Negros Occidental governor and SRA administrator Rafael Coscolluela described the current situation as “too much sugar at the wrong time.”
He said the timing of the importation was disastrous — the imported sugar arrived on September 14, just 16 days before the start of milling. Import arrivals should have been scheduled in November, he pointed out.
The sharpest words came from Enrique “Nene” Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugar Planters (NFSP), who warned that this level of overimportation is “suicidal” for the industry.
Meanwhile, Confederation of Sugar Producers, Inc. (CONFED) president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. questioned the prudence and judgment of SRA administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, asking whether the decision truly served all industry stakeholders.
Former SRA board member and now Negros Occidental 5th District Representative Dino Yulo also reminded that the SRA is mandated to balance the interests of producers and consumers.
However, the unexpected plunge in millgate prices shows that the agency has failed in this responsibility.
In response to mounting criticism, Azcona assured that no more sugar importation will be allowed until mid-2026.
‘Near death’
For labor leader Wennie Sancho, sugar importation has become a “new norm” under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., pushing the industry to the brink of “near death.”
“Somebody is really playing the game in the industry,” warned Sancho, who also serves as secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Associations (GAWA).
A look back reveals that controversies surrounding sugar importation began soon after President Marcos Jr. took office in 2022.
* Under SO5 (August 2022), the planned importation of 300,000 MT — allegedly without presidential approval — led to the resignation of then SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica.
* Then came SO6 in February 2023, authorizing 440,000 MT of refined sugar, which Senator Risa Hontiveros denounced as a form of “government-sponsored smuggling.” Serafica’s successor, John Thaddeus Alba, later resigned due to ill health.
* Afterward, SO7 allowed the importation of 150,000 MT, and once again, SO8 reopened the wounds — prompting sugar producers to sound the alarm.
Not new, but worse
A crisis in sugar prices is not new.
But this time, the ₱200 to ₱300 gap between millgate prices and production costs makes the situation the worst in recent memory — a bitter blow for both planters and laborers.
This prompted ten Negros Island Region solons to unite in demanding that the SRA present a transparent, data-based explanation behind the steep price drop of locally produced sugar.
They also sought detailed reports on:
* The volume and timing of recent importations
* The extent of pest infestations, particularly the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI)
* The market shift caused by the influx of imported sugar
In addition, Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Javi Benitez filed House Bill No. 373, directing the committees on Agriculture and Food, Trade and Industry, and Labor and Employment to investigate the importation blunder.
Benitez’s concern for the plight of the mamumugon sa kampo (sugar field workers) is both timely and commendable.
‘Diabetes’ in press release
Reading through the statements from planters’ federations and labor groups, one message stands out:
They all want the SRA to listen.
Yet the agency’s response was a mere press release, admitting that there was indeed overimportation and promising that no further importation will occur for the next 10 months.
Such a pronouncement reeks of what can only be called “diabetes in press release” — sweet words that mask bitter realities.
It’s as if the SRA is saying: “It’s fine that the market is flooded with imported sugar now; we’ll just pause for 10 months before flooding it again.”
Did the SRA ever consult the planters and laborers before approving SO8 and its 425,000 MT of imported sugar?
Or is it merely a puppet serving unseen interests behind the policy?
The sixty-four-dollar questions
Now the industry asks:
* Is Pablo Luis Azcona still fit to remain as SRA administrator and protector of the industry’s stakeholders?
* Is the SRA still an institution that serves the people — or merely the traders?
Azcona must recognize the gravity of his role.
He must listen more, feel the pulse of the industry, and act with prudence and empathy.
He must abandon naivety and make decisions guided by sound judgment and fairness.
Otherwise, it would be tragic if one day, Azcona — himself a sugar planter — is deemed “irrelevant” in the very industry once hailed as the crown jewel of the country./PN
