‘Liberal import policy to kill PHL sugar sector’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez of the Third District of Negros Occidental led his colleagues in filing House Resolution No. 1199, expressing “strong opposition” to Diokno’s recent statement that food and beverage manufacturers will be allowed to directly import sugar as part of the Department of Finance’s plan to increase the tax rate of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The authors of the resolution are Reps. Joseph Stephen S. Paduano, Greg G. Gasataya, Gerardo P. Valmayor Jr., Alfredo D. Marañon III, Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Emilio Bernardino L. Yulo, Mercedes K. Alvarez, Michael B. Gorriceta, Jocelyn Sy Limkaichong, and Manuel T. Sagarbarria.

Explaining his position, Benitez expressed the fear that

FAO champions 12 projects backed by The Pandemic Fund

The Food and Agriculture o rganization of the United Nations (FAo ) will co-lead the implementation of 12 projects worth $264 million aimed to boost local and global health security as part of The Pandemic Fund’s first round of financing.

As one of the Implementing e n tities, FAo will be at the forefront of driving change and progress with the o n e he alth approach, which aims to optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems, recognizing that they are closely linked and interdependent.

The 12 projects involve FAo ’s participation in partnership with governments and other agencies, including the wo rld h e alth o r ganization ( w ho ) , the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNIC e F ), the wo rld Bank ( w B ), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Directly under FA o s oversight, approximately $60 million will be utilized over three years. The initiatives will benefit Burkina Faso, e t hiopia, Togo, Zambia, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Paraguay and Yemen, as well as the w e st Bank and g a za.

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are also part of a regional project specifically for Central Asia. w thin the framework of o n e h e alth for better prevention, preparedness and response to public health emergencies, the projects focus on three priority areas: collaborative surveillance, laboratory capacity, and workforce development. These include actions such as reinforcing disease prevention; combating antimicrobial resistance; strengthening early warnings, detection and response capabilities; improving collaboration between human, animal and environmental laboratories; and staff training.

“FA o welcomes the first round of financing from the Pandemic Fund and we are committed to supporting nations to be better prepared for future health crises.

Under FA o s o n e h e alth initiative—a holistic, integrated, collective approach— we will continue to work to effectively maintain and enhance the well-being of humans, animals, and the environment in a sustainable manner,” said Deputy Directorg e neral, m a ria h e lena s e medo.

e s tablished in s e ptember 2022 and officially launched during a g 2 0 meeting, the fund, hosted by the wo rld Bank, is the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to providing multiyear grants to help low- and middle-income countries better prepare for future pandemics.

After receiving 179 applications from 133 countries for its first call for proposals, the fund’s g o verning Board met in July and agreed on finance allocations for 19 projects worth $338 million that will support 37 countries.

o v erall, the selected projects for this first round will play a vital role in supporting the Pandemic Fund’s objectives, bringing in additional resources for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

moreover, they will incentivize countries to increase their investments in health security, enhance coordination among partners, and serve as a platform for advocacy.

Notably, 30 percent of the grants allocated are for projects in sub- s a haran Africa—a region with the highest demand for support.

The $338 million of grants awarded are also expected to mobilize over $2 billion in additional resources, adding $6 for each $1 coming from the fund.

liberalizing sugar importation, without adequate support for our local sugarcane farmers, would weaken the domestic sugar industry.

“Sugar production this year is projected to fall due to El Niño and our limited milling capacity. But instead of helping our sugar producers, flooding our market with imported sugar will kill our domes- tic sugar industry,” Benitez said. “Sugar-exporting countries can sell to us their surplus sugar at prices below production cost because of massive subsidies and protectionist policies. Tayo, ano ang ginagawa natin sa industriya ng kalamay natin?”

The Department of Finance has taxed sweetened beverages through Republic Act (RA) 10963 or the TRAIN Law. Based on data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, total tax revenue from sweetened beverages between 2018 and 2022 was P174.5 billion. But only P3.92 billion was allocated for programs for the sugar industry for 2018 to 2023. This is in spite of the provision of RA 10659 or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act that mandates an annual allocation of at least P2 billion for programs to strengthen the sugar industry.

“Instead of assuring us of ploughing back revenues from tax on sweetened beverages to strengthen the sugar industry, Secretary Diokno is offering liberalization of sugar importation,” said Benitez.

“He seems to be supporting liberalization to sweeten the deal with food and beverage manufacturers and counteract additional costs from higher taxes. But what about our sugarcane farmers?

What is our deal with them?”

Last June, Diokno told local manufacturers who will be affected by the expanded taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) that they could gain wider access to sugar imports.

Diokno said he is willing to grant manufacturers more access to sugar supplies from abroad to cushion the impact of a higher SSB tax base.

He said he is aware that producers and sellers of sugary products subjected to the tax would object as “it will raise the selling price of their products.”

“But knowing the big difference between the world price and the domestic price of sugar [a major input in the industry] then allowing the industry to import their own sugar requirement would reduce their cost of production,” he said.

“This is the ‘sweetener’ or incentive for producers of sugary products to accept the broader, simpler tax on sugary products.”