Sugar workers: Subsidies a sweeter solution than importing during harvest season

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Officers pose as they inspect a shipment of refined sugar from a smuggled shipment worth 3.86 million USD seized by the Philippine Bureau of Customs at the Manila International Container Terminal in Tondo, Metro Manila on October 17, 2022.

AFP / Jam Sta. Rosa

 

MANILA, Philippines — An organization of sugar workers on Thursday said it opposes a government order fast tracking the importation of refined sugar, adding it is the peak harvest season and that there is enough for domestic consumption.

 

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Agriculture to speed up the importation of 64,050 metric tons of refined sugar to stabilize prices. He said he was concerned with the "very high" November inflation rate for sugars, confectionery, and desserts at 38%.

 

National Federation of Sugar Workers secretary general John Milton Lozande said the government should instead subsidize farmers' fertilizer and fuel costs if it wants to lower the price of sugar. He said this would help small planters lower their cost of production.

 

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/12/22/2232612/sugar-workers-subsidies-sweeter-solution-importing-during-harvest-season

 

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