Economist-congressman Joey Salceda of Albay doesn’t think that the proposed reforms to the charter of the controverisal Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) would result to lowered sugar prices for consumers.
“The recommendations might or might not be good. Some of them make sense, although not urgently. But, I can definitively tell you that they will do nothing of immediate consequence to address ongoing sugar supply or price issues,” Salceda said in a statement Tuesday, Nov. 1.
The recommendation can found in Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Report No. 3, which resulted from the higher chamber’s recent series of public hearings on the headline-grabbing sugar importation mess.
These include “incorporating transparency and accountability” provisions in the process of issuing import permits and other critical issuances, including the SRA’s audit processes, procedures and public consultations.
The proposal also bats for expanding the membership of the SRA Board from two to eight members with additional members coming from the following sectors: industrial and household consumers, sugar industry workers, sugar transportation sector workers, other relevant stakeholders.
It also seeks to prohibit the SRA board from “delegating its authority to reclassify sugar”.
But ultimately, the Bicol solon said all these would be “immaterial to actual sugar prices and supply”.
“It might make sense to include more consumer representation in the SRA Board, but they’ll keep getting outvoted anyway, if the basis of import orders is still arbitrary,” Salceda pointed out.
“The question should be simple for the SRA Board: Is there a sugar shortage or not? And have we no other immediate recourse but to import? Those are yes-or-no questions. They need technical answers,” Salceda added.
The veteran lawmaker further said thatthe proposals “do not address the urgent problems of consumers or industrial users”.
“Refined sugar is now up to P120 per kilo. Industrial users have four to five days’ worth of inventory, and several bottling plants have ceased or downscaled operations. These are immediate price and supply problems, and the answers aren’t going to be in increasing representation in the SRA Board. That might be good. But the good that comes out of that will take months if not years,” he further said.
