The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) assured that the planned importation of 150,000 metric tons of sugar would undergo the correct processes and that the administration will be fully transparent.

In a statement on Wednesday, SRA Acting Administrator Pablo Azcona said he wants to avoid another sugar fiasco.

"So last year, 'yung buffer natin sa umpisa sa refined was about 20-something thousand lang po. So it lead to a speculation, it lead to the spike in prices, which the President really wants to avoid,” Azcona said.

On Monday, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. approved the additional importation of 150,000 metric tons of sugar or less, in a bid to stabilize the price.

Azcona explained that even if they combine local sugar production with the 440 MT of sugar from the most recent import, there won't be enough sugar in the country by the end of the crop year in August.

“When we forced milling earlier, nawawala po yung sweetness ng asukal kasi immature pa yung cane. So then yung effect non is what's happening now, we force milling early, now what's happening now is baka hindi natin matamaan yung projection natin," Azcona said.

The SRA acting admin reassured the public that the upcoming import program had been approved due to necessity.

The 150,000 MT of sugar is expected to arrive by September and will be stored before the cane harvest in the same month.

Written By Dana Ebreo, DZRH News Online Intern