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President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr rejects proposal to import an additional 300,000 metric tons of sugar
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The Office of the Press Secretary denied Marcos signed a Sugar Regulatory Administration order that allowed such importation
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Sugar Order 4, which is no longer available on the SRA website, sees raw sugar production lower by 16.18% this year vis-à-vis last year, making additional importation necessary
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The order appears to have been signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of Marcos
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rejected a proposal to import an additional 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said on Wednesday (August 10).
The statement was issued following the release, also on Wednesday, of Sugar Order No. 4 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that allowed such importation.
“The president rejected the proposal to import an additional 300,000 MT of sugar. He is the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board and denied this in no uncertain terms,” Cruz-Angeles said.
Sugar Order No. 4 appears to have been signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of Marcos. Marcos earlier designated Sebastian as his alternate to the SRA Board.
Cruz-Angeles said the president did not sign the order.
Sugar Order No. 4 is no longer on the SRA website.
According to the order, the total volume of sugar that the country may import should not be more than 300,000 metric tons. As of July 31, it said the actual production of raw sugar is 1,792,102 metric tons and actual production of refined sugar 737,254, respectively 16.18% and 2.84% less than last year’s output, making importation necessary.
“Sugar retailers and businesses producing sugar containing products have complained to the Department of Agriculture, Sugar Regulatory Administration and even to media on the unavailability of sugar in the market,” the order said.
The order aimed to “specifically address the current sugar supply situation and its increasing prices.”
As of July 31, the prevailing wholesale prices of sugar have gone up to P3,250 per LKg for raw and P4,400 per LKg for refined, according to the order. One LKg is equivalent to 50 kgs.
Prevailing retail prices in public wet markets of P90 per kilogram for raw and P90 per kilogram for refined, both much higher than their respective suggested retail prices. The higher prices were caused in part by the tightening supply, it added.
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