THE Negros Occidental Provincial Board unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday banning the sponsorship and sale of Coca-Cola products during the annual Panaad sa Negros Festival next month.
The move is in support to the call of Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. to prohibit Coke products during the festival, said Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
This came after a protest rally was held Monday in front of the Coco-Cola bottling plant in Bacolod City to call for a boycott of the beverage giant, which allegedly uses high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as sugar alternative. The unregulated importation of HFCS is killing the sugar industry, its leaders said.
Negros Occidental is the Philippines’ major sugar producer. The province produces about 60 percent of the output.
Lacson said the implementation of Coke ban is up to the Executive.
“I’m sure that necessary steps on its implementation and monitoring will be taken,” he added.
The vice governor said other local government units may also adopt the move and ban Coke in their respective festivals.
"Even without resolutions, we have talked about this with other local officials and there are positive reactions,” he added. “It has to be a concerted effort, we can’t leave this industry alone. We have to manifest our objection to the HFCS importation.”
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol recommended that Sugar Order No. 3 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) regulating the entry of HFCS be held in abeyance pending the resolution of the issues raised by beverage giants.
Wennie Sancho, lead convenor of Save-Sugar Industry Movement (Save-SIM), slammed Piñol for claiming that the protest was a rally of the elite in the sugar industry.
“It is an insult to the thousands of workers who endured the heat of the sun, joining the people’s rally to manifest their vehement opposition against Coke for using HFCS,” he said.
Sancho said they have the right to peaceably assemble to protect the country’s economic welfare.
Coca-Cola Femsa Philippines has a pending injunction case against Sugar Order No. 3 before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. The softdrinks firm is also seeking to nullify the sugar order.