Negros lawmakers seek probe into sugar price collapse

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY — Lawmakers from the Negros Island Region voiced alarm over a steep drop in sugar prices that they say is squeezing farmers below production costs and urged the Sugar Regulatory Administration to act decisively to avert a deeper industry crisis.

They said millgate prices have fallen to about PHP 2,200 to PHP 2,300 per 50-kilogram bag, below the estimated PHP 2,500 cost of production and far lower than last year’s PHP 2,700 to PHP 2,800 range.

Industry leaders warned the sustained decline threatens thousands of sugarcane growers and workers in Negros Occidental, which accounts for nearly half of national output and has long been known as the country’s “Sugar Bowl.”

Ten Negros lawmakers — Negros Occidental Representatives Julio Ledesma IV, Alfredo Marañon III, Javi Benitez, Jeffrey Ferrer, Emilio Bernardino Yulo, Mercedes Alvarez, Bacolod Lone District Rep. Albee Benitez, and Negros Oriental Representatives Emmanuel Iway, Maisa Sagarbarria, and Janice Degamo — asked the SRA to release a transparent, data-driven explanation for the price slump.

They also pressed the agency to account for import volumes, pest infestations, and demand shifts that may have contributed to the collapse.

Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez filed House Resolution No. 373 seeking a congressional inquiry by the committees on Agriculture and Food, Trade and Industry, and other relevant panels.

“When sugar prices fall, so do the livelihoods of thousands of Negrosanons,” Benitez said, adding that Negros Occidental deserves fair pricing and policies that protect farmers, planters, and mill workers.

The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines likewise demanded accountability from the SRA, saying it should have acted earlier to prevent the crisis.

The groups warned that prolonged low prices could deepen rural poverty in sugar communities where a majority of households depend on cane farming.

Benitez’s resolution cited surging input costs, including fertilizer now at PHP 1,800 to PHP 2,000 per bag, as further pressure on small planters.

Lawmakers urged the SRA and concerned agencies to move swiftly and transparently, stressing that stabilizing the market is vital to rural livelihoods and to social and economic balance across the region.