MANILA, Philippines – As sugar prices continue to increase, the government said they will be importing sugar immediately in order to provide affordable sugar to consumers.
In an interview over the weekend, Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila said that the government will allow the importation of sugar with tax exemptions because of rising prices.
“People should be able to afford reasonably priced sugar,” Favila stressed. Favila said that the solution is for government to buy sugar from other government overseas.
This means that the government will be relaxing all taxes and tariff for sugar importation to make it more affordable to the public. Favila said that they have already coordinated with the Department of Finance (DOF) to facilitate the tax perks.
Favila said that they would like to buy cheaper sugar from other governments immediately in order to address the needs of the local consumers because prices are now going up. “We want to formalize this immediately,” Favila said.
Favila said that in under no circumstances will they give subsidies to local sugar manufacturers in order to drive the prices down. “I have all the measures to help consumers afford cheaper goods. They (sugar manufacturers) can sell all their local produce overseas if they want.”
The Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) has already said that they fear prices can reach to up to P50 per kilo. However, the suggested retail price (SRP) for sugar is only P43. Sugar is currently being sold for P48 per kilo.
Sugar prices in the country have been going up because of rising global demand, limited supply and weather disturbances.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya said that they have already received a proposal to increase the SRP to P44 to P45 per kilo. The adjustment in SRP has not yet been approved because the DTI is still waiting for an endorsement from Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.
Maglaya said that they can easily import cheaper sugar even if the world prices are increasing. She noted that they were able to do it with rice before wherein the government bought rice from the Vietnamese government.
“If we were able to do it before we can do it again,” she said. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)
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