Dumaguete City: To make the Philippines fully self-sufficient in sugar, administration-backed senatorial candidate Abby Binay on Thursday proposed to halt sugar imports during harvest season to protect local farmers.

According to Philippines News Agency, Binay, during a press conference of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas in Dumaguete City, stated that by eliminating import dependence, the Philippines could empower its farmers, create jobs, and even become a sugar exporter. “Let us make a clear policy na kapag panahon ng ani, panahon ng harvest, no importation. That has to be clearly in black and white,” she emphasized.

Binay proposed not just a government-backed no-importation policy during the harvest season, but also a national drive toward 100 percent reliance on locally produced sugar. She envisioned a future where the country could even export sugar. Binay noted that the country’s sugar industry suffers from a lack of support, with farmers earning only once a year during the harvest. Allowing sugar imports during this critical period, she warned, drives down farmgate prices and deprives farmers of their primary earnings.

Former Senate president Vicente Sotto III, another administration-backed senatorial candidate, suggested that the government buy half of all agricultural products at farmgate prices, bypassing traders to ensure farmers receive fair compensation. He advocated for farmers to earn more by selling at their prices rather than the traders’ prices.

Former interior secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. called for the institutionalization of low-interest loans for farmers, expansion of crop insurance, and provision of incentives to protect agricultural land from conversion. Besides Binay, Sotto, and Abalos, former senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson; Reps. Erwin Tulfo and Camille Villar; and Senators Francis Tolentino, Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Pia Cayetano, and Imee Marcos round out the administration’s 12 senatorial candidates.