The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Wednesday urged sugar mills to increase trucking allowance to help sugar farmers nationwide amid a significant jump in transport costs of canes that battered local sugar producers due to the global oil shocks.
In a letter to the millers, SRA Board Member David Andrew Sanson appealed for additional trucking allowance as a supplementary measure to the ongoing relief efforts from the government.
“We are all trying to survive this crisis, and I hope the sugar industry stakeholders will come together to help each other and to ensure the future of our beloved sugar industry,” he said.
Sanson made the appeal for “humanitarian reasons” as the steep financial burden threatens the continuity of cane supply.
In Negros Island, the country’s top sugar-producing area, diesel prices have breached PHP120 per liter in most areas.
An increase in trucking allowance is expected to help sugar farmers offset fuel costs should the global oil hike persist.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to start on April 6 the release of PHP10-billion cash assistance for farmers and fishers under the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk (PAFF).
More than 102,000 sugar farmers are expected to receive PHP2,325 cash aid under the PAFF. (PNA)