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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider JV Ejercito vows to revive PH sugar industry if elected in Senate

JV Ejercito vows to revive PH sugar industry if elected in Senate

Published Mar 13, 2022 09:03 am

Senatorial candidate Joseph Victor “JV” Estrada said he would push for the revival of the sugar industry once he gets a fresh term in the Senate in the May 2022 elections.

Ejercito said he hopes to strengthen the Sugarcane Industry Development Act and the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, both of which he authored when he was a senator.

The former senator said he wants to ensure the full implementation of these laws.

“Dapat gayahin natin ang mga ASEAN countries gaya ng Thailand na (We need to follow fellow ASEAN countries like Thailand wherein) they are very strict on importation and they really support the industry through fertilizers, modernization of farming, and other forms of support that can really improve the production of our agricultural products,” Ejercito said in an interview with DYLR Radyo Pilipino Bacolod.

Ejercito thanked former Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Alfredo Benitez, his counterpart in the House of Representatives, for helping him secure the passage of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, which was signed into law on August 6, 2013.

The said law established a productivity improvement, research and development, human development, and extension programs for sugar farmers; mandated infrastructure support for the sugar industry; and set up a monitoring system on the supply of sugar.

The former lawmaker said it was his mother—former San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez—who inspired him to prioritize the sugar industry.

Gomez hails from Negros Occidental, which produces the majority of the country’s sugar along with the province of Negros Oriental.

Ejercito noted that despite the passage of these laws that aim to protect sugar farmers, law enforcers fail to hold agricultural smuggling syndicates accountable for economic sabotage.

He said the proliferation of smuggling, as well as lenient importation rules, continues to threaten the livelihood of small sugar farmers and planters of other agricultural goods.

That is why, Ejercito said, it is high time for the national government to prioritize the agricultural industry, including sugar farmers and planters.

“Iyan ang nakapatay sa ating industriya. Kung ako talaga, we have to prioritize our local industry para naman sa local planters and local farmers sa palay at sa sugar (that kills our agricultural industry. We really have to prioritize our local industry for the sake of local planters and local farmers of rice and sugar),” he said.

Related Tags

sugar industry Sugarcane Industry Development Act Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act Senate jv ejercito
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