GMANews
Residents of Negros Occidental plan to stage a boycott against Coca-Cola products in light of allegations that the company brings in sugar to the country disguised as premixes, avoiding a 38-percent tariff on imported sugar.
A report by local news site Visayan Daily Star disclosed that the boycott will be at the Bacolod public plaza Wednesday. Participants intend to question the company’s alleged practice.
Guillermo Barreta Jr., Negros Labor Center coordinator and Sugar Watch convenor alleged that the company’s practice has cost government P1.7 billion in lost revenues since the time of the Arroyo administration.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. could not be reached for a comment as of this posting. On the Visayan Daily Star website, however, the company maintained that its actions are legal.
Sugar planters are expected to join the rally Wednesday.
Several groups have also expressed support for the boycott, including the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, and other independent sugar groups.
Barreta said they expect 3,000 to 5,000 people to join them.
National Confederation of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines general secretary Hernane Braza said in the report that they foresee the boycott to reduce Negros consumption of Coca-Cola products by 50 percent.
The groups threatened to take their cause to the national level should Coca-Cola refuse to heed their demand. They will also go after other companies who supposedly import sugar in the guise of premixes.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) plans to export at least 100,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to the world market by Aug. 31, the end of the crop year. [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/223614/business/phl-to-ship-100000-mt-sugar-to-global-market]
The Philippines’ sugar output for the current crop year already surpassed the government’s initial forecast of 2.033 MT, prompting the SRA to request for an additional US quota.
For 2011, the agency does not intend to import sugar, but export the commodity to neighboring countries.
A report by local news site Visayan Daily Star disclosed that the boycott will be at the Bacolod public plaza Wednesday. Participants intend to question the company’s alleged practice.
Guillermo Barreta Jr., Negros Labor Center coordinator and Sugar Watch convenor alleged that the company’s practice has cost government P1.7 billion in lost revenues since the time of the Arroyo administration.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. could not be reached for a comment as of this posting. On the Visayan Daily Star website, however, the company maintained that its actions are legal.
Sugar planters are expected to join the rally Wednesday.
Several groups have also expressed support for the boycott, including the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, and other independent sugar groups.
Barreta said they expect 3,000 to 5,000 people to join them.
National Confederation of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines general secretary Hernane Braza said in the report that they foresee the boycott to reduce Negros consumption of Coca-Cola products by 50 percent.
The groups threatened to take their cause to the national level should Coca-Cola refuse to heed their demand. They will also go after other companies who supposedly import sugar in the guise of premixes.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) plans to export at least 100,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to the world market by Aug. 31, the end of the crop year. [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/223614/business/phl-to-ship-100000-mt-sugar-to-global-market]
The Philippines’ sugar output for the current crop year already surpassed the government’s initial forecast of 2.033 MT, prompting the SRA to request for an additional US quota.
For 2011, the agency does not intend to import sugar, but export the commodity to neighboring countries.
