NEDA crafting plan of action to address sugar woes —Balisacan

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is crafting a strategy to address the supply woes and soaring prices of sugar in the country.

“We are preparing some paper or a strategy in addressing this kind of issue,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of the 2022 Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. (EJAP-SMC) Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Particularly, he said “We are now crafting what needs to be done.”

Balisacan echoed President Bongbong Marcos' statement that the government has an “ongoing exercise” with various sugar stakeholders on ways to address the sugar industry problem.

“We need to see what the production potential of our sugar industry is vis-à-vis the demand… We need to sit down. Can they increase hectarage? Can they raise productivity, yield per hectare? What are their plans that will give us confidence that productivity is going to rise?” Balisacan pointed out.

“Can production catch up with them? We need to sit down with the industry players, planters. Can they really produce so much of the sugar?… Local production should grow, if it cannot grow, importation should be allowed otherwise prices will continue to skyrocket,” he added.

Top soft-drinks makers Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc., Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., and ARC Refreshments Corp. said that the  bottling industry is facing a shortage of premium refined sugar -- a key ingredient in many of our products. 

Meanwhile, sugar industry stakeholders have lauded the rejection of Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4), authorizing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar which was later on deemed “illegal,” saying it was “ill-advised” as the sugar milling season is about to start and some of the sugar imported early this year are in the warehouses of industrial users.

The issue had compelled Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, who signed the order on Marcos’ behalf, to resign.

Sugar Regulatory Administration Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica and Sugar Board member Atty. Roland Beltran also tendered their respective resignations in the aftermath of the SO4 controversy.

Marcos, over the weekend, said that there may be a need to import sugar come October, but that it would not be as much as the earlier reported 300,000 metric tons needed, saying it would be around 150,000 metric tons for the full year. 

Latest data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) show that prices of refined sugar were recorded at P100.00 per kilogram, washed sugar at P75.00 per kilogram, and brown sugar at P70.00 per kilogram in Metro Manila as of August 12, 2022.

Earlier, the Department of Agriculture said there is a shortage of about 300,000 metric tons of sugar as local production was affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette late last year.

During the EJAP-SMC Economic Forum, Balisacan said prices of sugar have been rising since the beginning of the year at a rate of over 5%.

“There is a lot of employment that would be affected by the soaring prices. It should be a concern for us as watchers and managers of the economy. We have to have a balancing act while we protect our farmers from headwinds,” he said. —LBG, GMA News