Sen. Legarda vows support to Sugar Industry

BACOLOD CITY -- Senator Loren Legarda, newly designated Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, recently committed to do everything for the good of the sugar industry.


She was the guest of honor and speaker during the General Assembly meeting of the Negros Del Norte Planters Association headed by its President Atty. Arsenio Acuna.

The General Assembly was held at the Golf and Country Club of the Victorias Milling Company in Victorias City, Saturday.

Legarda said, "I'm here to listen to your concerns as Chair of the Committee on Agriculture. The sugar industry today is highly vulnerable not only to the changing weather patterns but also to the wild fluctuations of the international market.

The uncertainties have been such that the industry had grown use to a repetitive pattern of one good year, then a bad year and then a not so good year.

Sugar production in 2007 and 2008 crop year hit a 25-year high of 2.4 million tons, yielding a surplus of 611,000 tons.

"This may be enough to subsidize prospective bad years," she said.

Observers however say that the bad years could become increasingly common and the good years few and far between.

In recent years,the Philippines has been a net importer of sugar.

They say Filipinos have sweet tooth. We consume 150,000 tons a month, reflecting our penchant for everything sweet, soft drinks, to Leche flan to Ensaymada.

Indeed, the Philippine beverage industry accounts for 30% of national sugar consumption.

Today, the very survival of the sugar industry hence the balance and with it the future of the of an estimate 556,000 farmers, 25,000 sugar mill workers and about 5 million people who depend on the industry directly or indirectly.

Legarda further said, "We should all work together to obtain the much needed breathing spell for the industry, time that will allow us to put together all the measures that will enable the sugar industry to compete on an even footing with other sugar producers in the world market. And to do this, a strong partnership between public and private sector should be done. Government's role is to produce the environment that will enable private entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed."