The National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) Thursday said it is against the importation of sugar especially during the peak harvest season, as supply is sufficient at the moment for domestic consumption.

According to NFSW secretary general John Milton Lozande, if the government wants to lower the price of sugar, it should assist small planters in lowering the cost of production, by subsidizing their fertilizer and fuel purchases.

At the same time, Lozande added that the government should put a price cap on sugar prices so that these would not be manipulated by unscrupulous traders, a number of which are owned by big planters and millers themselves.

Other than the above, the government should not only strictly monitor compliance with minimum wage standards but also agree to a higher minimum wage for sugar workers, both in the field and in mills and refineries as they too suffer the high living costs caused by high inflation rates.

This is despite the higher income of big planters at the moment because of the high price of sugar. But big planters can very well double the wages of their workers even at the previous price levels of sugar.

Lozande said fertilizer prices continue to be at P3,000 per sack, when it used to be only from P800 to P920 per sack before. Other than that, the price of fuel has more than doubled since last year. One needs at least 18 sacks per hectare to have a good harvest of sugarcane.

In Negros Occidental, the daily wage for cutting and loading sugarcane is only from P280 - P350 per day, lower than the minimum wage of P410 per day. That is if the sugarcane is directly carried to the truck from where it was harvested. If not, this could even be delayed for up to two days and the sugarcane workers would be paid the same amount even if there are delays.

Finally, the government, especially the President who still chairs the Department of Agriculture (DA) should always strive for improving Philippine agriculture, including that of sugarcane production, instead of relying solely on importing agricultural products, including sugar. This is to ensure we have food sovereignty and sufficiency. Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura