Labor leaders have condemned the government's plan to export 100,000 metric tons of raw sugar to the United States, arguing it could worsen the sugar industry's crisis amid plummeting millgate prices.
In Negros Occidental, Philippines, labor leaders on January 14, 2026, criticized the Department of Agriculture's (DA) announcement from January 12 approving the Sugar Regulatory Administration's (SRA) plan to export 100,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar to the United States, following a 130,000-ton increase in local production. The aim is to reduce domestic supply and stabilize millgate prices, which have dropped to P2,000 per 50-kilo bag.
"But where is the sugar order on this plan? This is hasty," said Roland de la Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP). He demanded transparency on volume, price, and other details, calling the announcement a mere appeasement for the labor sector hard-hit by the sugar crisis.
The crisis has prevented some hacienda owners from releasing the 13th-month pay for farm workers in December 2025. On January 15, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to finalize compliance reports from local haciendas. De la Cruz, who filed a complaint over unpaid bonuses, warned that thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in sugar planting are also suffering.
"That's why we are not happy with the so-called stop-gap measure – the sugar exportation – because we suspect it could be a ploy for import replenishment that will further worsen the crisis," he told Rappler. The glut stems from over-importation under Sugar Order No. 8 in September 2025, which allowed 424,000 MT of imports against planters' recommendation of 150,000 MT, with 270,000 MT still in local markets. This has left the DA and SRA struggling to sell domestic production at cost-covering prices.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, whose family is involved in the sugar industry in Bukidnon and Negros Occidental, urged immediate government intervention to help farmers with rising input costs and millgate prices below production costs, maximizing the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) under the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA). Wennie Sancho, convener of the Sugar Industry Movement (SAVE-SIM), described it as the sector's "hardest moment" that could lead to collapse if sugar import liberalization persists.
A congressional inquiry into the sugar crisis is scheduled for January 23 at Nature’s Village in Talisay City, led by House agriculture committee chairman Mark Enverga and Senate agriculture committee chairman Francis Pangilinan. If unsatisfied with the results, de la Cruz said they would call for the resignation of the entire Sugar Board and Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona. "Only God knows what’s next for the labor sector once the crisis continues to persist in the next few months or a year due to sugar glut."
