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BY DARYL LASAFIN and MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Agriculture secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol lambasted the sugar planters and farmworkers who staged a protest against the importation and use of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) on Monday.
Piñol called them “spoiled brats” for criticizing his recommendation to suspend a Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) order imposing stricter regulations in importing the alternative sweetener.
Protesters gathered in front of the Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc. bottling plant in Barangay Mansilingan and called for the boycott of the beverage company and other industry players using HFCS.
Calling the secretary “Money Piñol,” they also burned an effigy of Piñol as they accused him of siding with business interests instead of protecting the agriculture sector, particularly small-time farmers.
The Benigno Aquino administration, which “the hacienderos of Negros Occidental supported,” allowed the use of HFCS, Piñol said in a statement.
“So here is a situation where sugar planters, acting like spoiled brats, are accusing me of being anti-farmer for seeking a win-win solution to a problem which was created by the very administration they supported,” he said of the Monday rally.
Piñol clarified that he does not want to scrap the SRA’s Sugar Order (SO) No. 3, only “that it be held in abeyance pending the resolution of issues raised by Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, which are legitimate businesses operating in the Philippines for so long now.”
Earlier the secretary claimed the rival beverage companies complained to him that they were not consulted before the SRA issued SO No. 3. But SRA administrator Anna Rosario Paner refuted this.
“Coca-Cola…and Pepsi Cola started relying heavily on the use of HFCS about five years ago when the prices of local sugar doubled compared to that of sugar coming from Thailand,” said Piñol, chairman of the SRA Board.
“Nobody complained about HFCS until the prices dropped from P1,800 per bag to P1,300,” he said. “That was when the [SRA]…recommended to…Duterte that the import of HFCS should have a cap of just over 280,000 metric tons a year.”
With the President’s support, the SRA issued SO No. 3, which “places a cap on the volume of HFCS to be imported and imposes stiff tariffs and duties on the imported commodity,” said Piñol.
But after that, representatives from the beverage companies met with Piñol to ask for a dialogue with sugar industry stakeholders and the SRA for a “win-win solution,” said the secretary.
Coca-Cola in particular might have to shut down its plant in Davao City if SO No. 3 is carried out immediately, Piñol said. HFCS shipments of both Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola were being held at different ports, too, he added.
According to Piñol, the beverage companies said they are willing to buy more local sugar but need time to make adjustments in their manufacturing processes, which were designed to use HFCS.
“[After] the meeting…I recommended that [SO No. 3] be held in abeyance pending wider consultations…a recommendation supported by Trade and Industry secretary Ramon Lopez,” said Piñol.
Coca-Cola is currently contesting SO No. 3 before a Quezon City court. Paner and Piñol are among the defendants.
“Did I, in exchange for recommending that wider consultations be made pending the full implementation of SO (No.) 3, ask Coca-Cola to drop the charges against me or the SRA Board? No, I did not. The suit is still pending before the courts. Ako ang naka-demanda, hindi kayo,” Piñol said in the statement.
By calling him “Money Piñol,” the sugar planters insinuated that he was bribed by Coca-Cola or Pepsi Cola, Piñol said. “I am challenging [them] to show proof that I am corrupt and I will resign immediately.”
The secretary said he has no interest in either of the beverage companies. “I do not even drink soft drinks anymore.”/PN
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