Who’s gaming the sugar industry? Negros Occidental planters call for probe

BACOLOD, Philippines – The mood was tense when members of the Save the Sugar Industry Movement (SAVE-SIM) in Negros Occidental called on Wednesday, November 27, for a congressional investigation into the steady drop in sugar prices.

Their message was sharp and unyielding: the sugar industry in Negros Occidental was in crisis, and the country’s legislators needed to step in.

Their main concern is the dramatic decline in sugar prices. From P2,980.88 per 50-kilogram bag in August and September, mill gate prices slid to P2,815.99 in October, then plunged further to P2,600 in November – a P380 drop in just three months. 

For an industry already burdened by rising costs of labor and inputs, the decline was not just alarming – it was existential.

SAVE-SIM, a coalition of hacienda laborers and agrarian reform beneficiaries-turned-small planters, said the crisis was a battle for survival. 

Alarmed, the sugar planters demanded urgent intervention from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Wennie Sancho, SAVE-SIM convenor, called it an “unkind scenario,” one that risked stalling year-end benefits for workers and plunging agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) into deeper financial distress.

He said a P10-decrease per bag significantly impacts sugar planters and laborers, whether big or small, and the situation threatens the year-end benefits of hacienda laborers and places ARBs and small planters at risk. 

He also said rising costs for fertilizers, pesticides, farm inputs, and labor wages only compound the problem.

Sancho warned that the P169-per-bag drop signals indicated manipulation within the industry.

“Somebody is gaming the industry. Gaming the market in the sugar industry constitutes unethical practices that manipulate prices, supply, or demand to gain an unfair advantage. The winners are the large sugar traders and middlemen. They manipulate prices, control supply and profit from supply differences,” Sancho said.

The Sugar Council, a group representing three major planters’ associations – the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association  Incorporated (CONFED), and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Incorporated. (PanayFed) – also expressed concern.

Earlier in November, the Sugar Council lauded Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and SRA Administrator Luis Pablo Azcona for assuring no sugar imports would disrupt the market until the current milling season ends in May 2025. However, they said they were blindsided with reports of imported sugar arriving in October.

The 135,832 metric tons of imported sugar, part of the 240,000 metric tons authorized under Sugar Order No. 5 for 2023-2024, caught many by surprise. An additional 104,167 metric tons are reportedly set to arrive.

Now, the Sugar Council accused the DA and SRA of undermining local producers, with NFSP President Enrique Rojas stressing that excessive imports depress domestic prices. 

Sancho said unscrupulous importers and politically connected industry players were exploiting the situation.

“The artificially low mill gate prices hurt small farmers and ARBs, pushing them toward bankruptcy while enriching syndicates and cartels,” Sancho said.

The growing tension led to a heated exchange between Azcona and Rojas, further fueling calls for a congressional investigation to identify those behind the sugar crisis.

“With this, we can save the sugar industry – the lifeblood of our local economy,” Sancho said. – Rappler.com