DOF to make sugar industry globally-competitive

Negros Occidental produces almost 60 percent of the country’s sugar output. (Pixabay Photo)

LA CARLOTA CITY, Negros Occidental — Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said the Department of Finance (DOF) wants to learn more about the sugar industry and understand their concerns to make it globally-competitive.

“That’s the goal, that we’re able to compete with our neighbors,” Lambino told reporters during his visit at the mill district here on Friday, together with Senator Cynthia Villar.

The two officials were hosted by Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Member Emilio Yulo III and the officials of Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra Inc.

(AALCPI) led by president Roberto Cuenca.

Negros Occidental produces almost 60 percent of the country’s sugar output.

Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture, reiterated the need for the sugar industry to be globally-competitive since the imports liberalization will take place in just a matter of time.

Given the global competition, Villar said the industry should also focus on the developmental aspect funded under the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA).

However, since the PHP2-billion allocation under the law has not been fully utilized, the funding has been reduced by the Department of Budget and Management to PHP500 million this year, she said.

Villar pushed for the creation of the national sugar program to be supervised by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that the industry development fund will be fully utilized.

SIDA or Republic Act 10659, which was enacted in 2015, aims to promote the competitiveness of the sugarcane industry and maximize the utilization of sugarcane resources, and improve the incomes of farmers and farmworkers, through improved productivity, product diversification, job generation, and increased efficiency of sugar mills.

Of the PHP2 billion annual fund, PHP1 billion is allocated for infrastructure for farm-to-mill roads; PHP300 million for credit; PHP100 million for scholarships: PHP300 million for block farm of the land reform beneficiaries; and PHP300 million for shared facilities program.

In November last year, the Senate unanimously approved Resolution 213 urging the Executive Department not to pursue the planned liberalization of the sugar industry to safeguard the welfare of sugar farmers and industry workers in more than 20 provinces in the country.