QUEZON, Bukidnon — Quezon Mayor Pablo Lorenzo III, who also serves as president and chairman emeritus of the Associated Sugarcane Farmers Inc. (ABSFI) and the Associated Bukidnon Sugarcane Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ABSFMPC), said sugar millers are sounding the alarm over the worsening oversupply of raw sugar in the country as the industry confronts what they described as its most serious threat yet—not imported sugar, but the surge of artificial sweeteners dominating the local market

The concerns were raised during the 23rd Joint Annual Assembly of ABSFI and ABSFMPC held on November 16 at the Quezon Civic Arena, Bukidnon’s largest indoor venue.

A total of 8,019 members packed the arena, marking the cooperatives’ second major assembly at the new site.

Industry leaders reported that inventory levels have risen sharply, destabilizing prices and straining mills.

They said the oversupply has been aggravated by the widespread shift to synthetic sweeteners—sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame among them—which have replaced significant volumes of locally produced sugar in the food and beverage sector.

More than one million metric tons of sugar equivalent from these substitutes entered the Philippine market last year, Lorenzo said, severely weakening demand for natural sugar and hitting farmers’ incomes.

While cheaper, millers warned these products carry potential health risks and undermine the sustainability of the domestic sugar industry.

Refining capacity remains another major hurdle. The Philippines refined only 618,000 metric tons last year, far below national requirements.

Plans are underway to raise capacity to at least 800,000 metric tons to ease the raw sugar glut and help stabilize prices.

Officials also floated the possibility of reviving the US export quota to reduce domestic oversupply.

Industry leaders stressed that the growing dominance of synthetic sweeteners—more than foreign sugar imports—now poses the most immediate and pressing threat to the future of the Philippine sugar sector. (Mel N. Velez/Bukidnon Dispatch)