Agriculture Secretary William Dar stressed the importance of importing sugar to address its increasing price in the market.

"We are doing our due diligence and have consulted with various instrumentalities of the government. So in due time, within the week we will see what is the final way forward because what we want in the (areas) with TRO (temporary restraining order), is the importation ng 300,000 metric tons of sugar. That will hopefully bring down the prices of sugar in the market," Dar said during the ''Laging Handa'' virtual public briefing on Tuesday.

A Sagay City court on February issued a preliminary injunction on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to stop importing 200,000 metric tons of sugar.

Sugar Order No.3 says the SRA can import 200,000 metric tons of sugar as a buffer and to stabilize prices in places hit by Typhoon ''Odette''.

"Well, we stand by what we have projected and we’ll continue to mention this to the public so that the public would know the justification of sugar importation," Dar added.Dar said the imports will ease the impact of damage caused by Typhoon ''Odette'' to sugar plantation and refineries in Visayas.

"It really affects... many plantations and refineries were affected and that’s really the basic justification why we were trying to bring in refined sugar to ease the potential impact in the market," he said.

"Some of the refineries were badly affected by Typhoon 'Odette' so you need to repair, you need to put them into good condition again. There are some which are not affected and they are the one that supplies our requirements right now," Dar added.

Aside from the effect of Typhoon 'Odette', sugar prices in the country were also affected by the " global disruption of the food supply chain."

"So, of course, we also see the movement of prices including sugar in the global disruption of the food supply chain. The psychological impact, in the increase of all agricultural inputs, at the same time is the increase of petroleum prices. "The converging effect of this is starting to be felt by the country," he said. Robina Asido/DMS