SRA: 4,000 MT of smuggled sugar to be sold at Kadiwa stores

At least 4,000 metric tons of seized smuggled sugar were approved to be sold at Kadiwa outlets at a cheaper price, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said on Wednesday.

At the televised public briefing, SRA acting administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said that this amounts to about 4 million kilos of sugar, which will be sold at P70 per kilo.

“‘Yung sa ngayon, ‘yung approved is 4,000 metric tons. That is about 4 million kilos,” Azcona said.

“Meron pa tayong naiiwan na nahuli na mga I think almost 6,000 [metric tons]. Hopefully, mare-release din ‘yun once it is proven safe and approved na for sale, for donation to Kadiwa,” he added.

(We still have an additional 6,000 MT confiscated sugar. Hopefully, it will also be released once it is proven safe and approved for sale, for donation to Kadiwa.)

A kilogram of sugar currently sells for P100 to P136 in some stores, based on SRA records and monitoring by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Aside from Kadiwa stores, the SRA earlier said that it is also considering selling the confiscated smuggled sugar in supermarkets.

Azcona said the smuggled sugar that will be sold at supermarkets will be priced the same as those at Kadiwa stores at P70.

“Sa ngayon, we’re actually finalizing kung paano natin ito gagawin kasi this [project] with big supermarket chains signified that they want to volunteer as base. Libre po ito. Magbibigay sila ng shelf space na talagang maging Kadiwa outlet siya. We will not sell sugar but other commodities as well,” he said.

(Right now, we're actually finalizing how we're going to do this because this project with big supermarket chains signified that they want to volunteer as a base. It's free. They will provide shelf space for it to become a Kadiwa outlet. We will not sell sugar but other commodities as well.)

The Kadiwa center is a program of the DA which aims to provide the public with affordable goods by enabling the farming community to sell goods directly to consumers without the trader-intermediaries. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News