TO CLAIM that Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) lacks transparency is quite premature and shows ignorance of industry processes that they’re supposed to already know, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
This was after the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (Nacusip-TUCP) and its allied organizations earlier called on the SRA and other concerned agencies to clarify details of the proposed export of sugar to the United States (US).
“To set the record straight, the SRA was also waiting for the official release of the Sugar Order that covers the export of 100,000 metric tons of sugar to the United States,” Azcona said.
He said Nacusip-TUCP has been working with the sugar industry for decades and know full well that official publication of any sugar order goes through a process from the time the Sugar Board approves the order which is then forwarded to the University of the Philippines (UP) for recording before its official release.
Azcona also urged Nacusip-TUCP to consult with their allied sugar leaders to be clarified on how the decision to export has been arrived at, albeit late, to hopefully improve current sugar prices.
“As early as the mills closed last June 2025, we already announced that sugar production has increased to levels not seen in five years but no one listened,” Azcona said.
Prior to that, he said that as early as April 2025, SRA already saw a possible shortfall in refined sugar and indeed, when refineries closed in June 2025, they were only able to refine 618,388 metric tons of sugar which cannot cover for the annual demand of refined sugar at more than 1 Million metric tons.
“Nobody complained of the trade-off of sugar buying at a premium price in exchange of importation rights then because everybody was happy with the prevailing sugar price at that time,” Azcona added.
Nacusip-TUCP national president Roland de la Cruz earlier said the SRA has announced plans to export 100,000 metric tons of sugar to the US.
He noted that the announcement comes as the local sugar industry continues to deal with declining prices and ongoing difficulties faced by sugar farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries since the start of the milling season in October 2025.
De la Cruz said there is still no publicly available sugar order outlining the framework and guidelines for the export program.
“Why has the SRA not yet published the sugar order that will govern the export of such a significant volume?” he asked.
He said the absence of public documentation raises concerns about transparency and the extent of stakeholder participation in the decision-making process.
Moreover, Azcona also said that they were surprised with the statement of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson when sugar prices were dipping, that instead of importing refined sugar, SRA should have moved to import raw sugar which will then further flood local market.
He said Lacson has never consulted with the SRA on this issue.
“Again, what SRA is being criticized was the importation order of refined sugar which was needed because our refiners cannot comply with the country’s requirement of refined sugar, not raw,” he added.
Azcona noted that for this crop year, as early as mid-October, SRA already conducted a dialogue with sugar traders on low prices of sugar upon the opening of the milling season, and they blamed the confusing statements made by the sugar federations on a need to import again, which later was retracted.
A few days later, he said SRA had a meeting with Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (Confed) on how best to prop-up sugar prices but market forces defied logic and sugar prices remained low.
He added that early December, SRA called on exporters to help bring out raw sugar hoping this would balance out the supply as we know that last year’s huge raw production has been a factor in why prices of sugar remain low.
“This move, along with the announcement that no importation will happen until December 2026 was communicated to sugar groups including Confed and the Philippine Sugar Millers which was then re-echoed during the subsequent stakeholder’s meeting where Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) and Confed said they will send their comments, while National Federation of Sugar Planters (NFSP) and PanayFed were silent on the matter,” Azcona said.
He said all other stakeholders agreed to the No Import announcement, Sugar Order 2 (SO2) and the planned export of sugar to the US.
The same was echoed to the PSMA Chairman by Sec. Tiu-Laurel in a meeting held mid-December. A few days later, Confed cancelled their meeting with SRA, while PSMA disapproved SO2 to increase price, he added.
However, in the effort to alleviate the suffering of our farmers, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel said that they will observe the effect of the "no import statement" and, if by January 8, there is still no movement in sugar prices, the Sugar Board will move to export sugar to the US.
“Thus, last January 9, the Sugar Order covering exporting 100,000 metric tons to the US was signed and was forwarded to UP last January 12. Now it is officially published in the SRA Website, so the claim of lack of transparency is very premature and designed simply to attack government,” he added. (MAP)