LAWMAKERS are pushing for a sweeping overhaul of the local sugar sector amid warnings that excessive foreign imports have triggered an estimated ₱12-billion revenue loss and setbacks for domestic farming communities.
Senator Imee Marcos on Wednesday joined 93 industry leaders in demanding the immediate replacement of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and Sugar Board leadership following a severe collapse in local prices under Sugar Order No. 8.
The controversial regulatory policy allegedly allowed foreign imports to skyrocket to 424,000 metric tons, nearly tripling the originally recommended import volume of 150,000 metric tons.
“Because of the oversupply of imported sugar, its price is really low, and because of people’s desire to save money, they will choose to buy the imported ones,” she lamented.
The senator cautioned that the influx of cheap foreign sugar is slowly decimating the domestic market by forcing local producers to absorb massive financial losses at the millgate.
Sector data shows the resulting price crash has inflicted ₱12 billion in total losses on the domestic sugar industry, with the Negros region alone suffering an economic blow of roughly ₱7.5 billion.
“We should not be importing to the detriment of our own products and the farmers who are working hard here. We ourselves are killing the sugar industry,” she said.
Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito recently garnered strong backing from major sugar coalitions after introducing legislation and calling for a formal legislative inquiry into the over-importation crisis.
The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, National Federation of Sugar Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines commended Ejercito for bringing urgent political focus to their plight.
The lawmaker introduced Senate Bill No. 2114 to implement structural reforms in the industry and scale up financial support structures for displaced sugar field and mill workers.
A matching legislative measure that aims to restructure the same regulatory framework was simultaneously filed in the House of Representatives by Negros Occidental Representative Javier Miguel Benitez.
According to the Sugar Council, a joint coalition of major industry federations, the public funds legally set aside for sector modernization since 2015 have been largely wasted due to extreme government underutilization.
Faced with a massive surplus, industry data from March 2026 revealed that raw sugar ending stocks climbed 17.5 percent year-on-year to 668,405 metric tons, while refined sugar stocks jumped 38.77 percent to 506,804 metric tons.
The newly proposed Senate reform bill seeks to fix operational gridlocks by broadening the regulatory scope of the Sugar Regulatory Administration to include modern data analysis and the oversight of sugar substitutes.
The draft law also aims to make the state Sugar Board more democratically inclusive by officially adding designated seats for small-scale farmers, agricultural laborers, and other critical grassroots stakeholders.
By reorganizing the distribution of the central development fund, the legislation intends to modernize archaic milling facilities, upgrade regional logistics infrastructure, and install strict trade safeguards to shield local workers from predatory international competition.
“Ultimately, this bill aims to build a more competitive, sustainable, and inclusive sugar industry that not only drives economic growth but also uplifts the lives of those who depend on it,” said Ejercito.
