First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos recently gathered sugar industry stakeholders in Negros Occidental to discuss how the government can help revitalize the country’s sugar sector.

The Philippine sugar industry faces a severe crisis driven by biological infestations, particularly by the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), as well as declining farmgate prices, soaring input costs, climate shocks, and policy friction over imports which threaten the livelihoods of small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries across major producing regions like Negros Occidental.

“Damo gid na salamat (Thank you very much) to all our sugarcane stakeholders — whether left, right, or center — for coming together in one room with one shared purpose. I know I am not a scientist or an expert on RSSI but throughout our [hopefully] productive meeting, I couldn’t help but remember an ancient saying: ‘Don’t fix the blame. Fix the problem.’”

“By the way, this was memorialized by my teenage crush, 007 Sean Connery, in the movie Rising Sun,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Mrs. Marcos met with sugar stakeholders at the Stonehill Suites in Bacolod City together with Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez.

According to reports, the rapid spread of the RSSI has destroyed wide swaths of sugarcane in sugar-producing provinces, prompting stakeholders to push for a national ad hoc committee.

Farmers also continue to face high costs for chemical fertilizers, fuel, and logistics, a burden that worsened when the war in the Middle East broke out earlier this year.

The low farmgate prices have also squeezed producers, as declining mill-site prices leave them struggling to cover rising operating costs.

“Moving forward, our goal is simple: let’s work together, find solutions, and help our sugar industry thrive again. Sama-sama tayong babangon muli para sa Bagong Pilipinas (Together we shall rise again for the New Philippines),” the First Lady said.