Marcos meets Zubiri, sugar industry stakeholders

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday night met with stakeholders in the sugar industry to discuss productivity and importation, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has said.

In a statement, Zubiri said it was acknowledged that there was a need to import sugar but not as much as the 300,000 metric tons indicated in the sugar order which Malacañang has disavowed as illegal.

"We thanked the President for not allowing too much importation of sugar to the country that would have affected hundreds of thousands of local farmers and farm workers all over the country," Zubiri said.

"We, however, acknowledged the need to import a smaller amount for the industrial and household consumers, as the consensus using available data on the remaining demand was to import at only 150,000 MT," he added.

"Far from the planned 300,000 MT initially signed off by the resigned Sugar Regulatory Board," Zubiri said.

Zubiri said there were other initiatives the stakeholders recommended "to ease the increase of sugar prices but we will let the President make the announcement at the proper time."

"What is important is that all the stakeholders came together to propose concrete short term and long term solution on the sugar situation. Looking for the ‘sweet spot’ between producers and consumers," Zubiri said. —Sherilyn Untalan/NB, GMA News