Marcos to revive Philsucor to help finance sugar cooperatives

The Philippine Sugar Corporation will be revived to help give financing to sugar farmers, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.

Marcos thus said in a video message after he met stakeholders in the sugar industry.

"One of the suggestions that came up during the meeting was to revitalize Philsucor. Philsucor is Philippine Sugar Corporation... It's financing for farmers, especially for cooperatives and farming associations," Marcos said. 

"Ngayon hindi sila masyadong nakakapagtrabaho dahil they tried to abolish... ngunit hindi naabolish, nandiyan pa sila. Kaya't bubuhayin natin at babaguhin natin," he added.

(Now, they're not functioning because they tried to abolish... But it wasn't abolished. It's still there. That's why we're going to revive it and make some changes.)

"They will continue their work in providing assistance sa ating mga farmers, sa ating mga farmers groups," Marcos said.

The Presidential Communications Office said PhilSucor that was created by Presidential Decree No. 1890 in 1983 to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation, and/or expansion of sugar mills, refineries, and other related facilities.

Then President Rodrigo Duterte in October 2018 directed the abolition of the Philsucor.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs (Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations) recommended its abolition because its functions overlapped with those of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and government financial institutions.

The order said that Philsucor was "no longer effectively performing the objectives and purposes for which it was originally created."

Marcos, who also serves as the secretary of agriculture, reiterated the need to import 150,000 metric tons of sugar, adding that he and the stakeholders also agreed with the importation schedule.

"We agreed on an importation schedule and how we will open up the importation to all of the traders," Marcos said.

"Unfortunately, magiimport pa rin tayo up to 150,000 metric tons but baka kung maganda ang production natin, baka hindi kailangan lahat 'yun. In the end, we will still continue to favor in terms of buying local production over importation. So 'yun ang kailangang balanse diyan," he added.

Despite the importation, Marcos said the local production of sugar should still be prioritized.

According to Sugar Regulatory Administration's forecast inventory, the country will have a negative ending stock of 552,835 MT by the end of August 2023, the end of the milling season.

The SRA said the importation of another 100,000 MT to 150,000 MT of sugar is necessary to avert a shortfall.

Pablo Luis Azcona, SRA's acting administrator, earlier said that the “actual volume, schedules, and details for that importation will be decided on the end of milling,” adding that the majority of mills will close on May 30.

Meanwhile, Marcos also said the government had identified areas that "we should now start categorizing as sugarland." —NB, GMA Integrated News