Gargantuan task

The proposal of Confed national president Lito Coscolluela for a partnership between the millers and the planters is a move in the right direction. His competence as a former vice governor, governor and administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, aside from his lifelong experience as a successful sugarcane planter, is without doubt the elements needed to bring these two sectors of the sugar industry into a cooperative play.

The various sectors whose relationships since 1920 had been one of conflicting interests are difficult to unite. In fact, industry history shows that they had always been at odds at each other since the production of sugar shifted from the hacienda-based muscovado mills to the centralized, centrifugal mills.

The crisis now facing the industry, though some do not act as if there is not such crisis, require the unity of these sectors as I have been hammering on for sometimes but somehow, while all agreed there is a challenging situation, the industry runs in circles trying to resolve the problems.

The Sugar Bill filed by Rep. Alfredo Benitez is supposed to prepare the industry for this moment when import duties in sugar will drop to 5 percent in accord with our international commitments, but an in-depth study of the bill shows that his proposal is nothing new.

In fact, as I wrote earlier, they are a rehash of many plans and programs that had been tried and failed. Perhaps with the bill, these moves can make these programs succeed though I find them only creating false hopes.

I hope, though, I am wrong for the sake of the industry on which a large number of our people depend for their livelihood.

The problem in the industry is more complicated than it appears, or can be resolved with sincere intentions of which the industry has aplenty. There is, I believe a clash of personalities as well as a clash of economic and political interests so strong that the sectors oftentimes work with blinders.

These three – personalities, economics and politics - had always lorded it over the industry for almost a century and at no time in its history has there been a diminution of these interests.

The unlamented Philippine Sugar Commission, hammered by the leaders of the millers and the planters since 1973 was an effort to bring the industry to work as one, but they were kept glued to each other only by the powers of martial law.

Predictably, Philsucom was dismembered with the collapse of martial law and the industry returned to its pre-martial law situation of conflicting interests. There was an attempt with the formation of the Tri-Partite Council but the undercurrents of mistrust within the industry remained.

Unity among the planters is easier to achieve within the sectors. In fact, in some areas the agricultural sector has worked in harmony since 1928. At the time when the industry was divided into milling districts, planters were united in only one association. There were rivalries within, but the planters took a unified position on matters affecting their sector.

This unity went ballistic when the milling districts were abolished and splintered the associations into several groups. Conflict of personalities played a major part in this disharmony.

The millers, on the other hand were united but they split when new mills were established under the Marcos regime with the old mills in one group and the new mills under another. They had a little of personalities clash and economic interest but plenty of spices of politics.

The effort of Confed president Lito is therefore a gargantuan task but he has the kind of personality that can make this possible, granting that the millers are of the same frame of mind and the traders, the factor that influences the pricing of sugar, will also join in a concerted effort for the sake of the industry that is also their main money base.

The millers are traders and traders are millers, thus, in a sense, many of them are in the same boat. Many planters are traders but not in the same degree.

Nevertheless, time is ticking and waits for no man.

There is already a Sugar Alliance composed of sugarcane planters’ federations of which Confed is a member but there is also another grouping the Master Plan foundation where all of them are members with the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

I attended one meeting and I think that’s it. History is repeating itself.

Lito’s plan of a partnership of the sectors of the industry is an indication that the Master Plan supposedly intended to prepare for the inevitable 2015 situation has been or is inadequate. His plan would perhaps build on what the Master Plan has already developed.

The bigger question, though, is whether Lito can also bring the planters to his points of view.*

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