BACOLOD City — A labor coalition in the Philippine sugar sector has thrown its support behind Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, reinforcing his claim that policy missteps—not congressional action—triggered the ongoing sugar price crisis.
The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines–Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TTUCP), along with allied workers’ and agrarian reform groups, publicly backed the lawmaker’s position while sharply criticizing the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for what they described as “misinformation” and “blame-shifting.”
In a press statement, the labor group condemned the SRA’s continued refusal to release the official minutes of Sugar Order No. 8, Series of 2024–2025, calling the lack of transparency a betrayal of farmers and workers.
“Enough secrecy, enough injustice,” the group declared, insisting that decisions affecting the livelihoods of thousands in the sugar industry must be made public.
The coalition also renewed calls for the resignation of key SRA officials, arguing that current leadership has worsened conditions for small farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and sugar workers.
During a privilege speech at the House of Representatives on March 18, Benitez dismissed allegations that congressional hearings caused the drop in sugar prices, labeling such claims “baseless and irresponsible.”
According to the lawmaker, the downturn was driven by oversupply and import policies approved by the SRA itself.
“Rather than answer for the oversupply it authorized, the SRA would rather point the finger at the institution that chose to investigate it,” Benitez said.
He presented data showing that at the start of the October 2025 milling season, sugar inventory had surged to over 900,000 metric tons—a 44 percent increase from the previous year. Carry-over stocks also nearly doubled the ideal buffer level, signaling a saturated market, he said.
Benitez pointed in particular to Sugar Order No. 8, Series of 2024–2025, which allowed the importation of 424,000 metric tons of refined sugar between July and November 2025—timed alongside the opening of domestic milling.
This, he said, flooded the market and drove farm-gate prices down to between P2,000 and P2,200 per 50-kilogram bag by early 2026—below production cost.
The solon noted that local industry leaders in Negros had earlier recommended importing only 150,000 metric tons.
Benitez emphasized that commodity prices are driven by supply and demand, not legislative inquiries.
“All of this happened before any hearing was announced,” he said, noting that traders had already stopped buying due to full warehouses, not because of congressional scrutiny.
He added that the hearings ultimately supported the extension of a sugar import ban by the Department of Agriculture through December 2026—a move he described as crucial in protecting local producers.
“Ang hearing nga ila ginabasol, amo ang nagprotekta sa aton,” he said, underscoring that Congress acted to address instability in the industry and stand by farmers./PN
