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Saturday, January 21, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Stakeholders of the sugar industry will send a collective letter to President Rodrigo Duterte within the week to seek assistance in their campaign to stop the importation of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) by beverage companies.
Kilusang Pagbabago-Negros Island Region spokesperson Archie Baribar said Thursday that they will ask the President to direct the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to immediately stop the importation of HFCS to protect the sugar industry.
Baribar, along with National Federation of Sugar Planters president Enrique Rojas, Confederation of Sugar Producers national president Francis de la Rama, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines president Manuel Lamata, and agrarian reform beneficiary Ranee Lava, have manifested their solidarity to protect the sugar industry.
Joining them were Hernane Braza, representing the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, and Wennie Sancho, secretary general of the General Alliance Workers Associations.
The continued importation of HFCS is killing the sugar industry, they said, adding that the entry of HFCS as an alternative sweetener will bring about P25 billion in losses to the sugar industry for crop year 2016-2017.
About 65 percent of the amount will be incurred by sugar producers in Negros Occidental, they added.
Negros produces about 60 percent of the country’s sugar output.
Top officials of Negros Occidental also expressed support to the call of the sugar industry stakeholders.
Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. backed the move to seek assistance from Duterte while Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the Provincial Board will come up with a resolution that will support the protection of the welfare of the sugar industry.
Rojas and Lamata had earlier said a beverage company asked them to “cease and desist” from issuing statements to the media, lawmakers and to the public that falsely impute the beverage company on the use of HFCS, otherwise, criminal, civil and administrative cases will be filed against them.
Baribar reiterated that the unabated and massive importation of HFCS by beverage makers and food processors constitutes economic sabotage in the guise of free trade and globalization.
He said that amid claims that substitute sweeteners are not from genetically modified corn, HFCS issue goes beyond health concerns.
“HFCS importation threatens the sole livelihood and the very existence of millions of small sugarcane farmers, farm workers, and their families in Negros,” Baribar said.
He added that if soda makers and food processors will continue importing and using HFCS, sugar prices will continue to decline because the latter displaces the demand for locally produced sugar.
Records obtained by the stakeholders from the Bureau of Customs for 2016 showed that HFCS imports reached 234,863 metric tons, equivalent to 352,294.5 metric tons of sugar.
Moreover, from a high of more than Php1,800 per 50-kilo bag at the start of crop year 2016-2017 last September, mill gate prices of raw sugar have declined to less than P1,500 per bag during the last week of December, sugar industry leaders also said. (PNA)
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