THE town of Isabela is supporting the call to boycott Coca-Cola for using high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as an alternative sugar, according to Mayor Enrique Montilla III.
The move was assisted by the Municipal Council which passed a resolution Wednesday, April 5, banning the sale of Coke products during the town fiesta on April 19 to 22.
Isabela town is the latest local government in Negros Occidental to ban Coca-Cola products.
The local government will sell sugarcane juice in its booth during the annual Panaad sa Negros Festival this month as the Provincial Government had already prohibited the sponsorship and sale of Coke products in the festival.
Hinigaran Mayor Jose Nadie Arceo also banned the sale of Coke products during its Hinugyaw sa Hinigaran Festival this month.
In Negros Occidental, more than 40 restaurants and business establishments have stopped serving Coke products.
The Sugar Alliance of the Philippines and other industry stakeholders are gearing up for the Senate hearing on the importation of HFCS on April 18.
Senate agriculture committee led by Senator Cynthia Villar will conduct the hearing.
The unabated entry of HFCS has led to the drop of sugar prices.
Moreover, the sugar industry leaders will bring the HFCS campaign to Manila.
Sugar industry stakeholders in Negros Occidental, which produces about 60 percent of the country’s sugar output, had been holding a series of protest actions against the unregulated importation of HFCS, considered a sugar alternative, claiming that it is killing the sugar industry.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Coca-Cola Femsa Philippines declared to increase their consumption from 90 percent HFCS and 10 percent local sugar, or 90:10 to 80:20, which means 80 percent HFCS and 20 percent local sugar.
The sugar industry leaders, however, rejected the proposal.
Sugar Order 3 was issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Chief Anna Rosario Paner on February 17 to regulate the entry of HFCS, but Coca-Cola sought a temporary restraining order, which the court denied, but its petition for injunction is pending.
For his part, Marañon said the Provincial Government is in solidarity with the sugar industry in its campaign against the unregulated importation of HFCS.
The governor cited a data presented by the SRA, showing that the volume of HFCS inflow being consumed by soda and beverage companies is equivalent to more than five million 50-kilogram bags of sugar.
“Imagine the far-reaching effect of this importation to the economy and to the millions in the labor sector. Millions of small farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries and their families will greatly suffer as they are highly dependent on this commodity for their livelihood,” Marañon added.