VILLAR, BENITEZ SPEAKERS AT MDDC MEET 

Friday, July 21, 2017
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Negros Occidental provincial government is preparing to hold a Negros Sugar Summit geared towards creating a resilient, diversified, competitive and inclusive economy for Negros Island, with the sugarcane industry continuing to make a significant and sustainable contribution, former Gov. Rafael Coscolluela said yesterday.

The provincial government is holding the summit because it wants to consult stakeholders on the sugar situation and to engage them in the formulation of a strategic agenda to address the challenges affecting the industry in Negros, Coscolluela, provincial consultant on trade and investment, said.

The industry challenges affecting the sugarcane industry in Negros include competition from High Fructose Corn Syrup,and other imported or smuggled sweeteners, low world market and domestic prices, labor shortage, low average productivity, rising costs of production, and energy-intensive cane production and delivery systems, he said.

There is also the looming excise taxes on fuel and sweetened beverages, and the worldwide trend to reduce sugar consumption for health reasons, Coscolluela said.

All these problems will require serious and proactive measures, he said, adding that the date for the Negros Sugar Summit has yet to be decided on.

He noted that the Sugar Regulatory Administration will have a Mill District Development Council summitnext week that will focus on MDDCs, which have their share of organizational problems, constraints and limitations.

“I guess they will deliberate on how the MDDCs can perform their intended mandate as frontliners for sugar district development programs and interventions,”Coscolluela said, adding that the MDDC summit results will be a useful input for the Negros Sugar Summit.

The MDDC summit on Tuesday will be held at Nature's Village Resort, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, with Sen. Cynthia Villar and Rep. Alfredo Benitez (Neg. Occ. 3 rd district) as main speakers.

The theme is the Strategic Role of Mill District Development Councils (MDDCs) in Sugar Industry Development, SRA Administrator Anna Rosario Paner said yesterday.

At least 150 participants are expected to attend from the sugar sector, including officials from partner agencies of the SRA in the Sugar Industry Development Act implementation, such as the Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Department of Public Works and Highways, he said.

The summit aims to review the roles and accomplishments of MDDCs since their institutionalization, to diagnose the current state or situation of MDDCs in relation to accomplishing the purposes of their creation, to chart the way forward towards MDDCs' strengthening and capacity development to become more effective partners of the government, and to institutionalized and mainstream Gender and Development programs, projects, and activities of the MDDCs, a statement from the SRA said.*CPG