Palace says inspection of warehouses shows sugar shortage is artificial
MANILA, Philippines — The sugar shortage in the country is "artificial" and is caused by hoarding, Malacañang said, adding the government continues to inspect warehouses to increase the sugar supply in the market and to lower the price of the commodity.
"The huge volume of sugar discovered by authorities in the various inspected warehouses in Luzon has led Malacanang to conclude that the sugar shortage is artificial, brought about by the hoarding of sugar traders who want to rake-in huge profits from the sudden spike in sugar prices," a statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) on Saturday read.
The government has intensified its campaign against hoarding and smuggling of agricultural products as it deals with sugar supply issues that may raise the prices of food and beverage products.
RELATED: Customs raids Pampanga sugar warehouse over alleged hoarding
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who also leads the agriculture department, has ordered agencies to visit customs bonded warehouses and to check on the inventory of imported agricultural products to find out if there is sugar hoarding.
The OPS claimed that the "relentless campaign" of the administration to lower sugar prices "continues to bear positive results."
The customs bureau, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and agriculture department recently inspected sugar warehouses in Deparo, Caloocan City; Balut in Tondo and San Nicolas in Manila; Rosales, Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Ibaan, Batangas, and Davao.
Four more warehouses in Guiginto, Bulacan were inspected last Saturday, yielding at least 60,000 bags of suspected hoarded sugar. The warehouses were located in T12 Polo Land, Ilang-Ilang street in Barangay Tabang, the OPS said.
During the inspection, authorities found imported sugar from Thailand at 50 kilograms per sack. At least two of the warehouses were half-full while one warehouse had sacks of sugar neatly stacked up to the roof. The warehouse caretaker told customs inspectors that the sugar from Thailand was delivered from the Manila International Container Terminal Friday evening.
RELATED: Customs blocks importation of 7,000 MT of potentially smuggled sugar
Authorities learned that the import permit used for the Thailand sugar was the allocation for Sugar Order No. 3 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Board last February. Customs officials are verifying the authenticity of the importation documents presented by the warehouse caretaker. The Office of the Executive Secretary has instructed the SRA to account for the 63,000 metric tons of sugar from the 200,000 metric ton importation authorized under Sugar Order No. 3.
Subic Port customs personnel have also seized 140,000 bags of imported sugar, which is equivalent to 7,000 metric tons, from Thailand after learning that the import permit had already been used for an earlier sugar shipment.
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