President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday said that the Philippines might import sugar by October due to a possible shortage of supply.

“Baka sakali ay kailangan natin mag-import pero ka konti lang. Hindi kasing dami ng kanilang sinasabi dati na 300 thousand tons. Eh siguro malaki na yung 150 thousand tons para sa buong taon na ito. Kaya sa aking palagay, nabawasan natin ng mabuti ang importation ng sugar,” he said in his Youtube vlog uploaded on Aug. 14.

A Sugar order no. 4 was released on Aug. 10, ordering 300 metric tons of sugar importation in the country. This was illegally signed by former agriculture undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of Marcos without his approval.

Marcos explained that he questioned the plan to import sugar because based on his monitoring, there is a sufficient supply.

“Tinignan ko ng mabuti kung ano ba ang available na sugar dito sa Pilipinas kung bakit kailangan mag-import. Nakita ko naman, may sapat na supply dito na nandito na sa Pilipinas. So sabi ko, bakit hindi natin unahin yan dahil yan ay galing dito sa Pilipinas at meron na rin tayo na-import noon na naka-imbentaryo ngayon,” he asserted.

Marcos said he ordered the consumption of the sugar supply first before importing.

The executive chief also tackled the possible importation of fertilizer as the cost of urea increased due to the oil and natural gas price hike.

Urea is widely used in the agricultural industry as fertilizer, it contains solid nitrogen to give plants a leafy growth.

“Kaya naman tayo, naghahanap tayo ng non-traditional [source of fertilizers], yung mga iba’t ibang bansa na hindi naman natin ini-importa nuon ay nilalapitan na ngayon natin at baka sakali, makabili tayo ng fertilizer na mas mura. Kaya't meron mga usapin mula sa DTI (Department of Trade and Agriculture) at sa mga fertilizer trader ngayon para ma-control natin ang presyo ng urea,” he explained.

The government to government fertilizer trading will lower the price for farmers, Marcos added.

“Kasabay na rin diyan ang pag isyu ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) ng ating E-voucher. Kaya aking sinasabi, nagtutulungan ang gobyerno at private sector para naman makamura ang farmer at kahit paano, mayroong kinikita,” he claimed.

The President further shared that they have helped the corn growers to produce their own feed wheat but he said that the sector will be needing more assistance to increase the corn production and then importation will follow.

“Ang mahirap talaga dito, ayaw na ayaw natin mag-import ngunit kung hindi sapat ang supply ng pagkain, mapipilitan talaga mag-import dahil kung hindi tayo mag-import at mababa ang supply, magtataasan naman ng presyo,” Marcos emphasized.

“Hindi natin maaring gawin yun sa taong bayan. Habang ang production pa natin ay inaayos natin, napipilitan tayong mag-import ngunit titiyakin natin na ang importation ay hindi naman sobra. Hindi sobra sa pangangailangan at meron naman supply dito sa Pilipinas,” he added.