Cheaper sugar at supermarkets a ‘victory’ for Marcos admin — solon

A veteran congressman described as a “victory” for the Marcos administration the availability at some supermarkets this Monday, Aug. 22, of sugar at a relatively low price of ₱70 per kilo.

“PBBM (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) has indeed shown remarkable leadership in immediately addressing this immense challenge of his nascent administration,” Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo said in a statement.

Salo was referring to the sugar supply and price issues that have grabbed headlines this past week.

Malacañang announced on Friday that Robinsons Supermarket, Savemore, SM Supermarket, and Puregold Supermarket had agreed to sell at least three million kilos of sugar at ₱70 per kilo instead of ₱90 to ₱110 per kilo following a series of talks with Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.

Salo also said the development on cheaper sugar was a “victory not only of his administration but of the entire nation.”

“This was achieved without any importation even of a single kilo of sugar and without sacrificing the welfare of our local farmers, but by the decisive action of PBBM in invalidating SO (Sugar Order) 4 that sought to import 300,000 [metric] tons of sugar, and taking to task those responsible,” he said.

The availability of ₱70 per kilo of sugar is good until the supply lasts, according to the supermarket owners.

Supermarkets will add a purchase limit of one kilo per customer to prevent possible household hoarding by enterprising consumers.

Apart from the initiative, the government is also making sure to keep sugar hoarders in the crosshairs of the law.

Operatives from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) raided on Thursday night a warehouse in Pampanga allegedly involved in hoarding sugar.