Lawmakers hear Negros sugar sector as prices slide

TALISAY CITY, Negros Occidental — National and local officials joined sugar industry stakeholders in Negros Occidental on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, for a public consultation on the “significant decline in millgate sugar prices,” as lawmakers signaled that legislative action will follow.

The Sugar Industry Public Consultation was held at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City and was led by Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, and Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga, chair of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.

The consultation was hosted by Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez and drew officials including Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Bacolod Lone District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Negros Occidental Fourth District Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, Negros Occidental Fifth District Rep. Dino Yulo, Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Manuel Frederick “Manman” Ko, Sugar Regulatory Administration Administrator Pablo Azcona, mayors from cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental, sugar planter groups, and other stakeholders.

Benitez opened the consultation with what he described as an urgent call to revive the sector amid falling farm-gate returns.

“The sugar industry across the country is once again in a critical state,” Rep. Javi said, adding that the sector has moved past the stage of mere symptoms and now requires immediate resuscitation.

Benitez said the inquiry aims to identify a “lifeline” through balanced production and price stabilization, while noting that the global market outlook remains promising even as local producers face hardship.

THE sugar industry across the country is once again in a critical state, Negros Occidental Third District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez said.

Benitez, who attended the Sugar Industry Public Consultation at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental on Friday, January 23, 2026, said that this is the reality.

” That is the situation that brings us all here today. This is neither new nor isolated. History reminds us that our industry has endured cycles of hardship many times before. In fact, out of one of the most painful chapters of our shared story, a world-renowned festival, the MassKara Festival was born. We are not sugar-coating the truth. This, too, is a fact,” Benitez said.

Benitez said he earlier filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the plunge in the millgate price of locally produced sugar in Negros Occidental and its adverse economic impacts on sugar producers and laborers.

Benitez, who filed House Resolution 373 on Oct. 13, 2025, said Negros Occidental is known as the “Sugar Bowl of the Philippines,” producing about 1.8 million metric tons of sugar annually and accounting for more than half of the nation’s total sugar output.

He said the global outlook remains strong, citing Fortune Business Insights estimates valuing the industrial sugar market at USD 39.59 billion in 2023 and projecting growth to USD 50.76 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.23%.

“Growth is being driven by expanding food processing activities, particularly in developing regions such as Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Yet here in the Philippines, our reality tells a different story,” Benitez added.

Benitez said stakeholders have pointed to over-importation as a key cause of falling millgate prices, including large volumes of refined sugar allowed under Sugar Order No. 8 totaling 424,000 metric tons, combined with carryover stocks from previous crop years that have swollen domestic supply.

“At the same time, demand for locally produced sugar has weakened due to the widespread use of artificial sweeteners and chemical sugar substitutes, products that are often cheaper and far more potent than natural sugar,” Benitez said.

He said producers are also facing rising costs for fertilizers, labor, fuel, and electricity, leaving small planters — including agrarian reform beneficiaries — struggling to break even when millgate prices fall.

“As if these were not enough, the industry has also been battered by El Niño, resulting in stunted cane growth and reduced yields. A Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect infestation in Negros Occidental has further threatened crop health and productivity,” he added.

Benitez said warnings have been raised repeatedly and described the situation as urgent for producers and communities that depend on sugar.

“Time is no longer on our side. This is an emergency. The stage of symptoms has passed. What the industry needs now is resuscitation,” he said.

He said the consultation is meant to surface differing views while keeping the discussion focused on workable solutions.

“It has brought together the highest legislative bodies of our country to listen to our voices. We will hear different opinions and varying positions on the same issues. That is natural. What matters is that we engage with clear minds, mature judgment, and mutual respect,” Benitez said.

Negros Occidental Fourth District Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer called on the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration to strengthen their leadership in protecting the sugar industry and in finding concrete solutions to the continuing decline in sugar prices.

Ferrer said the issue should be treated as a challenge for regulators and the current administration, rather than a forum for blame.

“We produce 65 percent of the country’s sugar. We have to protect the many families who rely on this industry,” Ferrer said, stressing the need for stronger intervention from regulators.

Ferrer said stakeholders want clarity on what the SRA can do when prices drop below sustainable levels for planters.

“When the price is fair, people don’t complain. But when prices drop, that’s when the problem starts,” he said.

He recalled President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s earlier statement that the price of raw sugar (kalamay) should have a ceiling of PHP 3,000 per 50-kilo bag, but said current prices have fallen to about PHP 2,200.

Ferrer said he previously called for a public hearing and noted that prices rose by PHP 80 “just recently.”

“That increase, even if small, shows that action is possible,” he said.

Ferrer said the SRA and the Department of Agriculture have a duty to balance competing interests in the industry while responding to planters’ concerns.

“The SRA has the obligation to weigh the situation. They have the authority, and so does the DA,” he said. “This is not about fighting or blaming. I was even one of those who recommended actions.”

He said he wants the SRA and DA leadership to confront the price decline directly.

“I challenge the SRA and the DA to find ways to increase the price of sugar. This is not manipulation,” Ferrer said. “It’s very simple — raise the price to a fair level. Our small planters are suffering, and even the big planters are affected.”

He said the SRA should answer the questions raised by sugar planters’ associations.

“I’ve always said that when the price is fair, there is no problem,” he said.

Ferrer also rejected corruption allegations as his main focus, saying he is pushing for an outcome that works across sectors.

“My only call is this: raise the price to a level that is fair to everyone,” he said.

In a separate statement, the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW)-Negros said planters fear a steep price drop to PHP 2,200 at the start of milling in October and questioned the SRA’s role, saying it did not consider impacts on small planters despite the issue recurring annually.

The group said inflation has intensified losses for small planters because production costs outweigh earnings, and it questioned why millgate prices continue to fall while domestic market prices remain “stable and high.”

The NFSW-Negros statement said the SRA did not stop sugar importation until next year, and said planters were also hit by low purity (purity/yield) beginning in October.

The statement said the Department of Agriculture and SRA failed to explain the reason for falling sugar prices, and it cited the SRA as saying it has no control over prices because the market is private or controlled by large traders it described as “comprador bourgeois (DKB).”

The NFSW-Negros statement criticized the SRA’s role and linked sugar pricing and importation issues to broader neoliberal economic policies, including tariffs and state price-setting controls.

It also said the livelihoods of Negrenses are at stake, citing 380,000 field workers, about 18,000 mill workers, and small planters it described as 80% agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The group said that if prices do not recover, agrarian reform beneficiaries could be forced to give up land that could return to large traders it described as “DKB-AMD,” as well as foreigners.

The NFSW-Negros statement said it is calling on democratic sectors to unite — including agrarian reform beneficiaries, workers, and farmers with other sectors — and said current conditions could fuel different forms of struggle tied to land reform and national industrialization.

The statement said the DA and SRA solution to the price decline is a moratorium by President Marcos on sugar importation until December 2026.

The group said it is calling on the government to stop sugar importation and provide a production subsidy to protect sugar farmers, and it urged planters and federations to provide fair wages and benefits to workers amid an economic crisis.

The Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc. (CONFED) also pointed to imports and sugar substitutes, saying the continuing drop in millgate prices of locally produced raw sugar is a direct result of excessive sugar imports and the growing use of sugar substitutes.

CONFED president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama said over-importation of refined sugar has flooded the domestic market, and said unregulated molasses imports have driven a sharp decline in molasses prices.

“Importations over the last three crop years totaled 1,468,050 metric tons of refined sugar, resulting in ending stocks for raw and refined sugar that ballooned to more than double the normal buffer stock levels by the close of crop year 2024–2025,” Valderrama said.

He said that when the current milling season opened in October 2025, the industry was already carrying excess inventories of raw and refined sugar.

“Basic economics applies. When there is oversupply, prices fall — and that is exactly what happened,” he added.

Valderrama urged lawmakers to institutionalize reforms in sugar regulation, including a clear, data-driven Sugar Importation Policy that would set rules on the volume, timing, and mechanics of future import programs.

CONFED also called for the termination of the SRA’s “voluntary purchase with import replenishment” scheme, saying it has favored importers over farmers.

Valderrama cited Sugar Order No. 8, Series of 2024–2025, which authorized 424,000 metric tons of sugar imports even as farmers proposed a cap of 150,000 metric tons during consultations.

He also raised concerns about Sugar Order No. 2, Series of 2025–2026, which called for the voluntary purchase of 300,000 metric tons of raw sugar and, he said, gives traders priority in future imports.

Valderrama said that days later, Sugar Order No. 3 authorized the export of 100,000 metric tons of raw sugar to the United States with an import replenishment ratio of 1:3, which he said could open the door to another 300,000 metric tons of refined sugar.

“These ill-timed and excessive importations have historically led to price collapses, especially when shipments arrive near or during the milling season,” he warned.

On molasses, Valderrama said CONFED welcomed the earlier moratorium under Molasses Order No. 1, which, he said, acknowledged over-importation in crop year 2024–2025 when molasses imports surged 28% above the three-year average.

He said CONFED is alarmed by Molasses Order No. 2, which allows import rights in exchange for purchasing local molasses at a 3-to-1 ratio.

“Why even talk about imports when SRA’s own data and the overflowing tanks of sugar mills show there is more than enough local supply?” he asked.

CONFED also urged Congress to strengthen the SRA’s authority to regulate chemical and artificial sweeteners, citing economic and public health concerns.

“The unchecked use of artificial sweeteners is slowly killing the domestic sugar industry and misleading consumers into thinking sugar-free products are automatically healthy,” Valderrama said.

He said the combined impact of artificial sweeteners and excessive sugar imports could hasten the collapse of the local sugar industry if decisive action is not taken.

Enverga said the consultation is intended to directly support a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation and rejected claims that the gathering was merely for show.

“This public consultation will be used for our official inquiry in aid of legislation. This is definitely not a show,” Enverga said.

“Hearing the major concerns of stakeholders at the outset will make our work in Congress easier. There will be action coming from Congress,” he added.

Benitez echoed that position and said Congress will step in through oversight and legislation, pointing again to over-importation, including 424,000 metric tons of refined sugar under Sugar Order No. 8, weakened demand linked to artificial sweeteners, and rising production costs.

He also cited El Niño, pest infestations, aging mill infrastructure, high transport costs, middlemen, and smuggled sugar as added pressures on farmers’ incomes.

“These challenges are long-standing, but Congress is committed to addressing them to protect the future of the sugar industry,” Benitez said.

Organizers said the consultation, held pursuant to House Resolution No. 373 filed by Benitez, is a platform for stakeholders to present data, share on-the-ground experiences, and raise policy concerns on pricing, production costs, market challenges, regulatory gaps, and the welfare of sugar workers and producers.