Marcos wants concessions with traders to reduce sugar prices

MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is considering a collaboration with the private sector to reduce sugar prices in the Philippines.

Marcos said during a consultation with officials of the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc. (PCFMI) on Monday that he is eyeing a concession with traders to tame sugar prices.

“Hopefully, we can get some concessions with the traders so that at least the pricing will be reasonable. The concern is the supply right now. I’ll make sure that there is sufficient supply in the country so that you can operate at full capacity,” he said.

Marcos stated that he is also considering direct importation by food manufacturers as part of emergency measures to address current industry concerns.

The approval of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will be needed for this, which he heads.

Despite the need for the country to increase sugar production in the future, he acknowledged the current pressing concerns of food producers must be addressed.

Marcos termed the country’s sugar supply issues as “worrisome” and assured that government efforts will be made to increase the commodity’s supply.

“It has become a worrisome problem. We are doing all of these things to protect the jobs of workers in those industries. So we are studying several measures that we can take to immediately increase the supply of sugar in the country,” he said.

Marcos said in his weekly vlog on Sunday that there might be a need to import sugar to stabilize domestic prices of the commodity.

However, he stated that the country might only need 150,000 metric tons (MT), half of the 300,000 MT earlier proposed by the SRA, if the supply is depleted by October.