THE United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) has expressed support on the leadership of Sugar Regulatory Administrator (SRA) Pablo Luis Azcona after the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc. (Confed) issued an open letter against Azcona over the low price of sugar at the start of this milling season.
Manuel Lamata, Unifed chairman, said in a statement that he has all faith in the leadership of Azcona, who, “despite his young age, has shown wisdom more than this pretentious sugar leader whom we all know has an axe to grind, not just against the SRA administrator but probably against anybody who will get appointed to SRA because of his embarrassing short stint as a member of the Sugar Board.”
Lamata, who lashed out at Aurelio Valderamma, president of Confed, said the open letter was not a knee-jerk reaction to the low price of sugar and molasses.
“If there is someone to be blamed for the low price of sugar at the start of the milling season, we should look at the very people who have been agitating the market through their grandstanding,” he said.
He added that person was obviously looking for the perfect timing to lash back and blame Azcona for not getting his desired price, just like a petulant child.
In its open letter, Valderama expressed their concern over the alleged worsening state of the sugar industry, particularly the steep decline in both sugar and molasses prices compared to last year, which severely impact the livelihoods of planters, millers, and stakeholders across the country.
“At the heart of this crisis is a series of policy decisions most notably the over-importation of sugar and molasses, that have flooded the market, depressed prices, and left producers without buyers or bargaining power,” Valderama said.
He said compounding the problem is the unmonitored influx of artificial sweeteners, which has further disrupted market demand. These developments have triggered what can only be described as a full-blown market destabilization.
“Why was this situation not foreseen? Were the implications of oversupply and the presence of sugar substitutes like artificial sweeteners not considered in your planning and import decisions? And what risk assessments were made prior to approving additional import volumes?” Valderama asked.
Valderama noted that based on its mandate to “establish and maintain such balanced relation between production and requirement of sugar and such marketing conditions as will ensure stabilized prices at a level reasonably profitable to the producers and fair to consumers” as contained in Section 2(B) of Executive Order 18, series of 1986, it is imperative that the SRA ensures protection to all its stakeholders.
Valderama said that Confed and its network of stakeholders remain open to collaboration with the SRA, provided, that all discussions are conducted in an inclusive, transparent, and honest manner.
Lamata also countered that they are all disappointed about the price as they are all planters.
“But that is not enough to slam an Administrator who has made several innovative programs in SRA. An Administrator who focused on upgrading SRA’s research facilities to aide our farmers in increasing productivity, inked collaborative projects with foreign partners to help us be globally competitive, created task forces to combat diseases, particularly the RSSI, and crafted policies that boost farm gate prices in the past crop years,” Lamata said.
He said the first Administrator (Azcona) to issue a policy on molasses importation. All that the Administrator did in the past two years was beneath this so-called industry leader who based his assessment of the sugar industry on the prices that he wants to prevail.
“I know Paul (Azcona) can fight his own battles but I cannot take this sitting down because up until last week’s low sugar price, our SRA Administrator has done so much for this industry. If I recall, SRA has already made pronouncements that there will be no talks of sugar importation until mid-next year and only depending on production volume,” he added.
Lamata noted that in August 2025, Azcona also announced during the Philsutech Convention that all sugar produced this crop year will be classified as B. Unfortunately, Confed and his ally, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) were in absentia for the second time around.
Lamata said these leaders have been consulted about the last importation order, and they knew full well that the refineries we have cannot comply with the refined sugar requirements needed by the bottlers, the confectioners and the likes.
“It’s time that SRA sees through these people who vowed they will collaborate and support the leadership. I think it’s time for SRA to sever ties with people who can’t and will never see any good in anyone other than themselves. It’s time that SRA will stop working with ingrates and hypocrites,” he said. (MAP)