Inudyukan ni Quezon 2nd District Representative David “Jayjay” Suarez ang mga kapwa mambabatas na masusing pag-aralan kung nagagampanan nga ba nang husto ng Sugar Regulatory Administration o SRA ang mandato nito sa ilalim ng Executive Order No. 18 at ang Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 o RA 10659.
Ayon kay Suarez ay tila palpak ang ahensya dahil patuloy pa din tayong nakaasa sa pag-aangkat ng asukal. Sangkot ang SRA sa isyu ng Sugar Order No. 4 na naglalayong magpasok ng 300,000 metric tons ng imported na asukal sa bansa, na diumano ay hindi awtorisado ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos.
"Sa tatlumpu’t limang taon na buhay ng SRA, hindi naging maayos ang kondisyon ng ating mga magsasaka ng tubo. Nananatiling mababa ang kanilang mga income at mahirap ang kanilang kabuhayan. In my opinion, the SRA has utterly failed to carry out its mandate to uplift the lives of our sugarcane planters and improve the industry," ani Suarez.
Sa naganap na pulong ng House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability noong Lunes, tinanong ni Suarez si dating SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica kung bumuti ba ang pamumuhay at estado ng mga sugarcane farmers mula nang mabuo ang SRA.
Sumagot ng “no” si Serafica matapos siyang tanungin ni Suarez kung “Sa 35 years na buhay ng SRA, gumanda ba ang buhay ng magsasakang tubo?”
Sa ilalim ng Executive Order No. 18, mandato ng SRA na i-promote ang “growth and development of the sugar industry through greater participation of the public sector and to improve the working conditions of the laborers.”
Sinusugan din ng Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 ang nasabing mandatong “to promote the competitiveness of the sugarcane industry and maximize the utilization of sugarcane resources and improve the incomes of farmers and farm workers, through improved productivity, product diversification, job generation, and increased efficiency of sugar mills.”
Hirit ni Suarez, "Malinaw na wala naman nagbago sa buhay ng ating mga magsasaka ng tubo. Hindi umangat ang antas ng kanilang mga buhay. On the contrary, their lives seem to have become worse. While already dealing with low production woes because of inclement weather conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, they also have to constantly compete with imported sugar which have been flooding the local market for years already,"
"I think it is time that Congress review the mandate and continued existence of the SRA. We can recommend legislative remedies and improve it, or maybe we can even recommend its abolition, whichever would bring more benefit to our sugarcane planters, laborers, and other stakeholders" dagdag pa niya.
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