PRICE SLIDE: Sugar workers rally as livelihoods take a hit

By Juliane Judilla

PASSI CITY, Iloilo — Hundreds of sugarcane workers, small-scale millers and members of various sugar planters’ associations staged a protest Wednesday at the Passi City Plaza to denounce the continued decline in sugar prices, which they blamed on excessive importation and what they described as weak regulation by the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

The rally was led by the Jalasig Sugar Planters Association (JSPA), whose members called on the national government to intervene as falling farm-gate prices threaten the livelihoods of farmers and workers in the sugar industry, a major employer in Western Visayas.

Bingawan Mayor Matt Palabrica expressed support for the protesters, underscoring the central role of farmers in sustaining the local economy and food supply chain.

“An industry cannot exist without farmers,” Palabrica said, emphasizing that the sugar industry cannot survive without producers who sustain both local output and the broader economy.

JSPA president Hernando Divinagracia said unregulated sugar importation has become a recurring problem for sugarcane planters almost every year.

According to Divinagracia, the influx of imported sugar leads to oversupply, depresses local prices, and discourages domestic production, further weakening the sector.

He added that the group is drafting a manifesto and aims to gather thousands of signatures to elevate their demands to the national level.

Divinagracia said the association has also been holding dialogues with local officials as part of its lobbying and legislative efforts.

In a separate statement, the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) Negros condemned the government’s sugar importation policy and expressed solidarity with the protesters.

“With the annual importation of sugar, it seems that the government is only supporting other countries while neglecting farm workers and small farmers,” said NFSW Negros spokesperson Mario Tapion.

“The continued importation of sugar is a sign of the worsening living conditions of farmers and the intensification of corruption,” Tapion added.

The group also urged landowners, large-scale planters, and federations to provide fair wages and adequate benefits to sugar workers to help ease deteriorating conditions amid rising costs of living.

“An additional call to hacienda owners, large planters, and federations to provide fair wages and benefits to their workers… Our collective action to hold the Marcos Jr. regime accountable for neglecting us is what will change the current situation,” Tapion said.

Organizers said the protest aimed to draw public and government attention to worsening conditions in the sugar sector and to press authorities for immediate and concrete action to protect local producers and workers.