Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Tuesday urged the government to immediately intervene to address what he described as a brewing sugar crisis, as mill gate prices continue to fall below production costs, pushing already burdened sugar farmers deeper into losses.

While welcoming the Department of Agriculture’s decision to pause sugar imports for 2026, Zubiri said the measure alone would not be enough to stabilize the industry and protect farmers from sustained financial bleeding.

“They need more help beyond this pause on sugar imports, whether through capital infusion or a government buying program that will ensure stable income for our sugar farmers and workers, and equitable prices for consumers,” Zubiri said.

“We need a strong and decisive DA and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to stabilize the mill gate price of sugar.”

Zubiri also called for the full utilization of the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) under the Sugar Industry Development Act, stressing that the billions allocated annually should translate into concrete support felt by farmers on the ground, especially during periods of prolonged losses.

“We pour a billion pesos into the Sugar Development Fund every year, so I hope that this is reaching our farmers,” the Bukidnon senator said. He added that during times of heavy losses, the SRA should step in by providing better infrastructure, credit assistance, and research and development support. Maximizing the SDF now, he said, could also justify increasing the fund in the future to help more farmers.

Mill gate prices have remained weak since the start of the milling season in October 2025, dropping from P2,200 per 50-kilogram bag to P2,075 by the last week of December. This is significantly lower than the P2,400 to P2,500 per bag recorded during the 2024 milling season.

“Grabe ang hirap na kinakaharap ng sugar farmers natin ngayon (Our sugar farmers are facing extremely difficult hardships right now),” Zubiri warned, citing the rising costs of labor, fertilizer, and pesticides alongside declining sugar prices. He noted that what used to sell for P2,500 per bag is now down to about P2,000, resulting in losses of P300 to P500 per bag for farmers.

“Napakabigat po ng lugi ng mga sugar farmers sa kada bag ng asukal. Paano po nila mapapakain ang kanilang mga pamilya at mapaghahandaan ang susunod na crop season kung wala silang kinita ngayong taon? (The losses being suffered by sugar farmers for every bag of sugar are extremely heavy. How will they feed their families and prepare for the next crop season if they earned nothing this year?),” he said.

Zubiri, who is also a registered agriculturist, said many sugar farmers operate with limited capital and have little capacity to absorb sudden price shocks, particularly agrarian reform beneficiaries.

According to the SRA, 84 percent of the country’s 88,000 sugar farmers cultivate less than five hectares of land.

“We cannot leave our farmers to deal with this crisis on their own. When tens of thousands of already marginalized farmers are operating at a loss, the government has to step in,” Zubiri stressed.

While expressing gratitude for the temporary halt in sugar imports this year, Zubiri cautioned that recovery would not be immediate due to what he described as over-importation in the previous year.

Beyond price support and safety nets, Zubiri also flagged smuggling and the illegal entry of sugar substitutes, such as high-fructose corn syrup, as major threats to the industry’s recovery.

He called for stricter enforcement against technical smuggling, warning that unchecked illegal imports could further undermine local farmers.

“We cannot fully rectify this sugar crisis if we don’t clamp down on this smuggling,” he said.