Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) bucked the proposal of finance secretary Benjamin Diokno to further liberalize the domestic sugar industry, saying allowing for more imports will not lower or taper current high prices nor cushion the impact of taxes on sugary beverages.
โAs if the high volume of sugar imports is not enough, economic managers are bent on further liberalizing the sugar industry at the expense of consumers and sugar workers. DOF Secretary Diokno even wants to use the Rice tariffication Law as a model for all agricultural products covered by non-tariff barriers. If that is the case, then we can say goodbye to PH sugar soon. Liberalization will be the final nail in the coffin of the countryโs ailing sugar industry,โ according to KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos.
KMP said sugar importation under Marcos Jr is embroiled in too much controversy. Since last year, scandals surrounded importation orders from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), particularly Sugar Order No. 4 which directed the importation of 300,000 MT, and Sugar Order No. 6 which legalized the smuggling of 440,000 MT of sugar. It was also revealed that SRA and the Department of Agriculture favored three sugar-importing companies namely: All Asian Countertrade, Sucden Philippines Inc., and Edison Lee Marketing Corporation when it issued SO No. 6. Officials and representatives of the SRA were frequently replaced as a result of the sugar scandals. Recent investigations by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee also prompted DA and Malacanang officials to face the probe on the sugar mess. ย
โWhile we are importing sugar in record volume, prices of sugar went up by at least 80% under Marcos Jr. The retail price of refined sugar in markets went from P54.50 in June 30, 2021, to P90 June 2022, and more recently, sugar prices have gone up to P110 per kilo,โ the peasant leader said.
The peasant group said the majority of sugar farmers and workers in the sugar industry stand to suffer the same plight of rice farmers affected by rice tariffication once full liberalization of the sugar industry takes effect.
More than 85 percent of the countryโs sugar planters are small planters with an average farm size of less than 5 hectares of sugar farmers. Most of the countryโs sugar mills and refineries are in Negros in Visayas. ###
