Hontiveros seeks Senate review of sugar laws

Senator Risa Hontiveros is calling for a Senate review of the laws governing the country’s sugar industry amid competitiveness challenges faced by the sector.

In a statement, Hontiveros said she filed Senate Resolution No. 298 calling for an inquiry into the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) charter and the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) of 2015.

“The laws were meant to strengthen the sugar industry and improve the incomes of farmers and workers. But today, our sugar remains expensive, our mills lag behind, and our farmers are struggling to compete,” the senator said.

GMA News Online reached out to the SRA for comment. The story will be updated once a response is received.

In her resolution, Hontiveros said that local producers are falling behind major sugar-producing countries such as Brazil, Thailand, and Colombia. 

She added that even though local production reached a four-year high in 2025, domestic supply met only 87% of local demand.

The senator also said that sugar prices remain high despite imports and lower global prices. She also warned that cheaper sugar substitutes and misdeclared imports hurt local producers and cause revenue losses for the government.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier said that the Department of Agriculture is looking into the possibility of imposing higher tariffs on imported artificial sugar to support demand for locally produced sugar.

The senator said that the local sugar industry supports around 700,000 workers and the livelihoods of five to six million Filipinos.

Hontiveros’ resolution is seeking a review of current SRA regulations that link sugar import privileges to mandatory purchases and warehousing of local buffer stocks, as well as compliance with US export quotas—rules that the senator claimed appear to favor large, highly capitalized trader-millers and may be consolidating control of the sugar market in the hands of a few players.

Moreover, the resolution said that SIDA was meant to boost the sugar industry’s competitiveness and raise farmers’ incomes, “but more than a decade later, its implementation and use of the P2-billion annual budget need urgent review as these goals remain unmet.” —VBL, GMA Integrated News