Senator Pangilinan calls for reforms in the Philippines' multi-billion peso sugar industry

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan highlighted the need for legislative and budgetary reforms in the multi-billion peso sugar industry, pointing out inadequate government support, rising production costs, and declining farmgate prices that could potentially bring the industry down to its knees.

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform was in Talisay City, Negros Occidental last week to hold a public consultation with sugar planters to identify the challenges that plague the multi-billion peso industry.

The focus of the public consultation, he explained, was to find a way to stabilize prices and incomes.

They also wanted to address recurring structural bottlenecks such as capacity, investment, and governance, and implement a sugar industry roadmap complemented by a strong budgetary support and trade policy.

“This public consultation matters because real reform cannot be designed from Congress alone. I personally commit to translating your inputs into legislative and budgetary action,” Pangilinan said.

“In return, we ask for concrete proposals on possibly price floors, program design, Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) priorities, and meaningful reforms at the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). Let us be frank, practical, and help one another so that the sugar industry can once again be a source of stability, not uncertainty, for Negros and the nation,” he added.

As sponsor of the budget for the Department of Agriculture (DA), Pangilinan has emphasized the need for a P2-billion allocation for the SRA during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) budget plenary deliberations last year to revitalize the country’s sugar industry.

However, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has pointed out the SRA’s underutilization and absorptive capacity, leading to a P1.02 billion appropriation for 2026 instead.

Based on SRA Reports as of January 2026, the number of operating raw sugar mills declined from 28 in 2018 to 25 in 2025, with 13 mills located primarily in Negros Island.

Sugar refineries also dropped from 13 to 10 over the same period, with only 5 refineries capable of producing premium-grade refined sugar.

-Paraluman News

The sentiment of especially the small planters is influenced by the decline in farmgate prices, with the per-bag of sugar falling to P2,150 to P2,300 last year. The current production cost is P2,500 per 50-kilogram bag.

“We are here with one purpose: to listen, to be candid about the crisis we face, and to agree on practical and sustainable solutions that protect farmers, workers, communities, and the industry,” Pangilinan stressed.

-Paraluman News