Sugar workers, planters protest mill shutdown in Batangas

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MANILA, Philippines – Sugar farm employees and small planters on Friday held a protest in Batangas following the abrupt closure of the Central Azucarera de Don Pedro Inc. (CADPI), said the farmers’ group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) on Friday.

The CADPI’s sugar farm workers and small planters, one of Luzon’s largest producers of raw sugar, discarded rotting sugarcane that they were unable to grind due to the permanent mill shutdown.

According to KMP, on December 15, 2022, the company filed for permanent closure after facing operational and financial difficulties that impacted the local sugar sector in Batangas.

The shutdown impacted 10,980 hectares of sugarcane land and bankrupted 4,584 sugarcane planters, said the farmers’ group.

In a statement from KMP, the sugar farm workers and small sugar planters are demanding immediate economic assistance from CADPI and the government because the closure has left them jobless for nearly three months, as well as advocating for the reopening of the sugar plant rather than relying on sugar imports.

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), National Federation of Sugar Workers, and KMP support sugar workers and planters’ demand that CADPI and the Department of Agriculture pay them for losses caused by the sugar mill’s closure.

“CADPI has existing milling contracts with its planters and also has agreements for hauling services to transport sugarcane from plantations to the milling facilities. Sugar farm workers who cut and load sugarcane from the fields to the milling facilities have been jobless since December,” according to UMA Spokesperson John Milton Lozande.

“The government should support local sugar farmers and planters instead of relying on sugar imports,” KMP’s Danilo Ramos said. – Kimberly D. Albaño, INQUIRER.net intern

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