Altering perceptions of the New Year

Sometimes, year-end developments can drastically alter people’s perception of the coming year. Two major events in Negros Occidental have changed people’s expectation of the new year.

The first was the outcry against the decision of the Sugar Regulatory Administration to cut down millgate prices of sugar. A unilateral decision by most sugar producers, the move has unleased such a furor in the province.

The second was the alleged hijacking of a 10-wheeler truck of Columbia Marketing in Hacienda Carmenchika, Pontevedra Thursday night.

Driven by salesman Charlemane Gargalicano, along with companion Noel Jake Calmor, the truck was reportedly waylaid by seven gunmen as it was traveling back to Bacolod from La Carlota City where it delivered cargo at La Castellana. The gunmen, according to Gargalicano, ran off with their collection estimated to reach P1 million in cash and checks.

Inspector Mary Rose Salve Gaspillo, the town’s police chief, said the van was later found abandoned in Ayungon, Valladolid.

This report, however, was met with skepticism by mediamen. In the first place, Carmenchika, although an hacienda, is a populated area. Second, the seven bonnet-wearing armed men could not possibly have slipped past the attention of locals.

Besides, there had been no reports of armed groups roaming the area before the incident. As a matter of fact, to test and climate of peace and order in Southern Negros, I motored to Kabankalan City, 97 kilometers south of Bacolod, where I spent New Year’s Day just to find out if there were indications of unrest.

Other than the traditional greeting of the New Year with the traditional explosions of firecrackers, there was hardly any rumor of roving bands of armed men in the South.

But the most troubling development was the lifting of the reserve sugar (C) sugar location by Administrator James Ledesma, supposedly without prior consultation with the federation of sugar producers.

In short, Ledesma issued Sugar Order No. 3-A, which simply pegged "A" sugar (US Quota) to 10 percent and "B" or domestic sugar to 90 percent.

Ledesma explained that he lifted the reserved allocation because the projected increase of this crop year’s sugar production is lower than expected. But there was an unexpected demand for the domestic sugar this December, causing millgate prices to soar to as high as P1,046 per Lkg.

This immediately had an impacted on the millgate prices of domestic sugar, which triggered howls of protests from sugar producers.

In La Carlota, millgate prices dropped to P1,015 from P1,036 the previous week. Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), scored Ledesma for failing to consult with producers before lifting the C sugar allocation.

Enrique Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, yesterday said Ledesma should have at least consulted them.

"Now we are happy that with the sugar prices, he issues the order without consultations," he said, adding that Ledesma will have a problem with producers when millgate prices of sugar dip.

Francis Trenas, Panay Federation president, protested Sugar Order 3-A, saying that his group was never consulted. The millgate price of sugar dropped to P1,002 from P1,046 the previous week. That is the equivalent of a P46 less per Lkg.

In Capiz, he said the price dropped to as much as P68 per bag from the previous P1,048 the previous weekend.

I had earlier reported a sense of great expectations among sugar producers when millgate prices hit more than P1,000 per Lkg. But there was a gentleman’s agreement, according to Rojas, that adjustments have to be made when the price goes beyond the P1,000 bag limit.

Reynaldo Bantug, president of the Confederation of Sugar producers Association, admitted that he was not aware that Ledesma would issue Sugar Order No. 3-A though it was his prerogative to do so. But he said he is hoping that the removal of the reserve sugar will not cause millgate prices to dip below P1,000 per bag.

The test of the move’s success in stemming the price increase will be this Thursday. If prices drop below the P1,000 per Lkg., there is going to be a major future in the sugar industry.

But, as pointed out by Ledesma, his mandate includes not only promoting and protecting the interest of sugar producers, but also those of the consumers.

The problem, however, is that the cost of inputs had gone up. Cost of fertilizers alone rose to as much as 50 to 65 percent. This puts sugar producers in a bind, Trenas pointed out. Worse, fuel prices had risen to as much as 100 percent, although it has gone down a bit recently with the price of oil dipping in the world market. But that is expected to go up again with the winter months in Europe and the United States.

Well, as they say, the situation remains open.