Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Saturday warned that the country’s multibillion-peso sugar industry risks collapse without urgent structural reforms, stronger legislation and increased government funding.

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, cited rising production costs, weak farmgate prices, and long-standing governance bottlenecks.

Prices and incomes should stabilize, he said, by addressing recurring problems in capacity, investment, and governance, and by fully implementing a sugar industry roadmap backed by strong budgetary support and a coherent trade policy.

He stressed that reforms must be shaped by stakeholders themselves, not designed solely in Congress.

Pangilinan committed to translating the planters’ recommendations into legislative measures and budget proposals.

The senator urged industry players to put forward concrete and practical proposals, including the possible establishment of price floors, improvements in program design, clearer priorities under the Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA), and meaningful reforms within the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).

As sponsor of the Department of Agriculture’s budget, Pangilinan reiterated his push for a P2-billion allocation for the SRA, which he raised during last year’s Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) deliberations to help revitalize the sector.

The Department of Budget and Management, however, approved only P1.02 billion for 2026, citing the SRA’s underutilization of funds and limited absorptive capacity.

Recent SRA data underscore the industry’s contraction. The number of operating raw sugar mills dropped from 28 in 2018 to 25 in 2025, with 13 located on Negros Island. Sugar refineries declined from 13 to 10 over the same period, and only five are now capable of producing premium-grade refined sugar.

Planters, particularly small producers, have also been hit hard by falling farmgate prices. Last year, sugar prices fell to between P2,150 and P2,300 per 50-kilogram bag, below the current production cost of about P2,500 per bag.

“We are here with one purpose: to listen, to be candid about the crisis we face,” Pangilinan said, emphasizing the need for practical and sustainable solutions to protect farmers, workers, communities, and the broader sugar industry.

He added that the outcome of the consultation would help determine the policy and budget priorities needed to restore stability to an industry long considered the economic backbone of Negros and a critical contributor to the national economy.