MANILA -- The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has approved and presented to President Rodrigo Duterte the resolution supporting the sugar industry.
For Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), it is the biggest gain they obtained from the two-day 45th Philippine Business Conference and Expo at The Manila Hotel on Thursday, October 17.
The approved resolution, which is a joint resolution of MBCCI and Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI), urged the Department of Agriculture (DA), Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to rationalize the importation of sugar on the basis of careful analysis of projected production versus domestic demand, and in consultation with industry stakeholders.
It also urged the SRA to take the leadership role on ensuring the development of the sugarcane industry and optimizing the utilization of the annual P2 billion provided under the Sugar Industry Development Act (Sida).
This is the only resolution under the agricultural sector passed by the PCCI during the annual conference. Others are on energy and tourism, among other sectors.
Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of MBCCI, told SunStar Bacolod that it is now the resolution of the entire PCCI as all of its members, including food processors, have recognized the need to support the industry.
Carbon said the “tone” of the resolution is not for liberalization or “fully opening up”, but only rationalizing the imports.
Rationalization means giving consideration to food processors while also protecting the sugar industry.
“It will be a happy compromise to everybody,” he said, adding that the resolution is a big thing amid the pressing concerns hounding the sugar industry.
It can be recalled that the said resolution was first adopted by PCCI-Western Visayas and passed during the 28th Visayas Area Business Conference in Leyte last August.
The President, who was the keynote speaker during the conference’s closing ceremonies, received the copies of the resolutions from PCCI officials led by their chair, William Co.
Carbon said the resolution now stands as one voice of the sugar industry and business community in the country, including industry users, who were previously on odds.
“From having opposing views, we believe that the PBC resolution will pave way for both sides to come together and discuss differences,” he said, adding that with this development, the executive branch of the government, including the President, will give weight and listen to these suggestions.
The DA and SRA were urged to beak the “deafening silence” on the issue of sugar import liberalization. The two agencies, however, said they have yet to look at the pros and cons of the proposed import deregulation scheme.
Sugar industry stakeholders, for their part, have again expressed strong oppositions believing that the lobby for sugar import liberalization seemed to have been resurrected through the formal proposal of the Department of Finance (DOF) mainly to improve the competitiveness of the industry.
Sugarcane farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), workers, producers, and millers, among others, believed that sugar import liberalization will result in the collapse of the industry affecting at least five million dependent Filipinos.
Most of them are in Negros Occidental, which produces 55 percent of the country’s total annual sugar production.
Stakeholders already gained support from some members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, mostly Negrense legislators. Both houses have passed resolutions opposing the proposed sugar importation scheme.
In the province level, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) earlier this week also passed a resolution appealing to Duterte to disallow the liberalization of sugar importation.