Boycott of Coke products kicks off today

DESPITE its meeting with Sugar Regulatory Administrator Gina Bautista Martin, Sugar Watch on Wednesday will push through with its rally, which will launch the boycott of Coca-Cola products.

Sugar Watch Hernane Braza, secretary general of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP), which is affiliated with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said they are expecting participants from all over the province.

They also hope to get the support of the church for their call.

They will also conduct information campaign and solicit support for the boycott from restaurants, schools and universities.

Sugar Watch convenors declared that they will continue with their boycott campaign until Coke buys locally produced sugar.

According to Braza, their group is open to negotiate with Coke, if the company wishes to.

During the dialog with Martin Tuesday, Braza said they took up four major points which can help the sugar workers and the sugar industry as well.

Sugar Watch wants Coke to buy more domestically produced sugar to end their calls for a boycott and for the sugar industry in the country to survive.

Braza said that they are also proposing for SRA and the Bureau of Customs to charge the required tariffs on premixes imported by the multinational companies and, once the government collects those tariff obligations which is 38 percent of the value of those imported premixes, the workers will also be given their share.

They also asked SRA to stop Coke from importing High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), which they claimed to be hazardous to human health.

Sugar Watch also urged Martin that they will have a labor representative in the Sugar Board.

Meanwhile, Martin said that she explained the technical issues of premix to labor and sugar workers representatives during the dialog.

“I explained that premixes remained as “C” or reserve sugar and we are now waiting for the decision of the Bureau of Customs on the matter,” she said.

She added that she will facilitate the requests of the Sugar Watch and she will also submit their written requests to Coca-Cola.

“I’m with the government. As SRA, I have to be on top of everybody and industrial users are also under my concern. I have also to protect the investors here in our country. What I’m trying to do is to facilitate that there will be a solution to these, hopefully as soon as possible for the good of the sugar industry,” Martin expounded when asked about her stand on the calls to boycott Coke products.

When asked for comment about the support of the sugar federations on the call for a boycott, Bautista replied, “I respect the decision of the producers and the private sector on the importation of the premixes. The best I could do is to facilitate and present to Coke their demands. Coke will hopefully respond amicably and accordingly,” she concluded.

Confed

Meanwhile, thousands of stakeholders under the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) Negros-Panay chapter will also converge and protest before the bottling plant of Coca Cola Bottlers Inc. in Mansilingan Wednesday.

The rally is expected to be held early in the morning. The other major planters federations and organizations also signified to join to the protest action.

Confed officials said they have informed all of their members who vowed to support the cause started by Sugar Watch. They have pledged to haul in most of their industry’s stakeholders to show the beverage company that “they could not easily get away with this.”

Their protest action is the first of a series of protest actions Confed will stage nationwide, adding that there will be a “simultaneous rally” among member-organizations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao on June 28.

Confed will continue to support the call to boycott Coca Cola products and will launch a massive campaign among restaurant owners in Bacolod and Negros Occidental to stop serving Coke products until “they rectify their act by paying the appropriate tariff.” –Teresa Ellera-Dulla, Sun Star