Capitol to seek audience before DOF on sugar industry woes

BACOLOD CITY, Sept. 26 –Negros Occidental Governor Isidro Zayco expressed his support to sugar planters here as he vowed to help them seek audience with Department of Finance (DoF) Secretary Gary Teves, who is from this province.


“I support the sugar leaders and players considering that the province is dependent so much on sugar as its major industry,” Zayco said.

He said the sugar industry contributes a big factor in the province’s socio-economic state so he will write Teves about the sugar planters’ plight.

He stressed the need of the industry for the economy to survive and a competition that will not only benefit the planters, sugar leaders, the entire industry but more importantly the farm laborers.

Reports have it that sugar buying in Negros had dramatically slowed down and consequently resulted to sugar planters’ serious fear of the impending weakening of the industry.

The griping planters pressed for the transfer of raw sugar and refined sugar from the Sensitive List (SL) to the Highly Sensitive List (HSL) of the Philippines under the ASEAN Free Trade Area-Common Effective Preferential Tariff (AFTA-CEPT) “to retain level of tariff protection beyond 2010.”

The planters’ group contended that the industry still has enough time to diversify and adjust to the trade liberalization. (PNA)

SOURCE:news balita