“I DON'T think there is.”

This was the reaction of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson when asked if he thinks there is currently a sugar crisis in the country.

Lacson, however, is not discounting the possibility that there could be a crisis in the near future.

He said yesterday, August 17, that the [sugar] industry should be guided as to whether there is a need to import or not.

“We also need to know how much volume we need to ensure that there will be no shortage now or in the future,” Lacson also said.

The governor also emphasized that the timing as to when the sugar [is imported] should come in and must also be considered.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently approved the importation of 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to arrest the possible inadequacy in supply.

“When there is importation, there is a tendency for smuggling,” Lacson said as he hopes that the imported sugar that will be sent to the country will just be refined ones.

Meanwhile, Lacson said he agrees with the decision of Negrense planter Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. not to resign as Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Member representing the planters and wait for the decision of the President.

Valderrama, he said, was appointed by the President while the other three officials who earlier resigned were appointees of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, Board Member representing the millers Roland Beltran and Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian have already tendered their resignation following the issuance of Sugar Order No. 4.

The order that seeks to import 300,000 MT of sugar was tagged by Marcos as “unauthorized and illegal.”*