Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Typhoon Paolo (international name: Matmo) made landfall in Dinapigue, Isabela, at 9 a.m., the state weather bureau reported Friday, Oct. 3.

In its latest update, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Paolo’s center was near San Guillermo, Isabela.

The typhoon packed maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center, with gusts up to 215 kph and winds extending 350 kilometers from the eye. It was moving west-northwest at 25 kph.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals were raised for the following areas:

Signal No. 4

The extreme northern portion of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran)

The southern portion of Isabela (Dinapigue, San Mariano, Palanan, Roxas, Burgos, Gamu, Naguilian, Benito Soliven, San Manuel, Cabatuan, Aurora, Luna, Reina Mercedes, City of Cauayan, San Mateo, Alicia, Ramon, City of Santiago, Cordon, San Isidro, Echague, Angadanan, San Guillermo, Jones, San Agustin)

The northern portion of Quirino (Diffun, Aglipay, Saguday, Cabarroguis, Maddela)

The northern portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Solano, Villaverde, Bagabag, Diadi, Quezon, Ambaguio, Bayombong)

Mountain Province

Ifugao

The southern portion of Abra (Tubo)

The northern portion of Benguet (Bakun, Mankayan, Buguias, Kibungan, Kapangan, Atok, Kabayan)

The southern portion of Ilocos Sur (Cervantes, Quirino, Gregorio del Pilar, Sigay, San Emilio, Salcedo, Burgos, Lidlidda, Banayoyo, San Esteban, Santiago, Galimuyod, City of Candon, Santa Lucia, Santa Cruz, Suyo, Alilem, Tagudin, Sugpon)

The northern portion of La Union (Luna, Bangar, Balaoan, Sudipen, Santol, San Gabriel, BSignal No. 4 Raisedacnotan, San Juan)

Signal No. 3

The northern portion of Aurora (Dinalungan, Dipaculao)

The rest of Isabela

The rest of Quirino

The central portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Kasibu, Bambang, Kayapa, Aritao, Dupax del Norte, Dupax del Sur, Santa Fe)

Kalinga

The central portion of Abra (Boliney, Daguioman, Sallapadan, Bucloc, Licuan-Baay, Malibcong, Lacub, La Paz, San Juan, Lagangilang, Danglas, Lagayan, Tayum, Bangued, Langiden, Pidigan, San Quintin, Pilar, Luba, Manabo, Villaviciosa, San Isidro, Peñarrubia, Bucay, Dolores)

The rest of Benguet, the rest of Ilocos Sur, and the rest of La Union

Signal No. 2

The southern portion of Cagayan (Peñablanca, Tuguegarao City, Solana, Iguig, Tuao, Piat, Rizal, Santo Niño, Alcala, Amulung, Enrile, Baggao)

The rest of Nueva Vizcaya

The southern portion of Apayao (Conner, Kabugao)

The rest of Abra

The southern portion of Ilocos Norte (Nueva Era, Badoc, Pinili, City of Batac, Paoay, Currimao, Banna, Laoag City, San Nicolas, Sarrat, Dingras, Solsona, Marcos, Bacarra, Piddig)

The northern portion of Pangasinan ( San Fabian, Sison, Pozorrubio, Umingan, San Jacinto, Laoac, Binalonan, San Nicolas, Natividad, Tayug, San Manuel, Asingan, Santa Maria, San Quintin, Dagupan City, Mangaldan, Manaoag, Bolinao, Anda, Bani, City of Alaminos, Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Binmaley, Calasiao, Mapandan, Santa Barbara, City of Urdaneta)

The central portion of Aurora (Baler, Maria Aurora, San Luis)

The northern portion of Nueva Ecija (Carranglan, Bongabon, San Jose City, Pantabangan, Rizal, Lupao)

Signal No. 1

The rest of mainland Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands

The rest of Aurora

The northern portion of Quezon (General Nakar, Infanta), including Polillo Islands

Camarines Norte

The rest of Apayao

The rest of Ilocos Norte

The rest of Pangasinan

The rest of Nueva Ecija

The northern portion of Bulacan (Doña Remedios Trinidad, San Miguel, San Ildefonso, Norzagaray, San Rafael, Angat)

Tarlac

The northeastern portion of Pampanga (Magalang, Arayat, Candaba, Mabalacat City)

The northern portion of Zambales (Palauig, Masinloc, Candelaria, Santa Cruz)

Pagasa also warned of storm surges up to three meters in coastal areas of northern and Central Luzon.

‘There is a moderate to high risk of life-threatening storm surge, with peak heights reaching 1.0 to 3.0 meters within 24 hours, over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, and Quezon,’ the agency said.

Metro Manila, Batanes, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, the Bicol Region, Panay Island, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, and Northern and Eastern Samar are expected to experience strong to gale-force gusts due to Paolo’s periphery on Friday.

The same conditions are expected for Batanes, Cagayan-including the Babuyan Islands-the Ilocos Region, Zambales, and Bataan on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Paolo is forecast to cross the northern Luzon landmass on Friday and emerge over the West Philippine Sea by afternoon or evening. It is expected to continue moving west-northwestward until it exits the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning./mcm/abc

The construction firm linked to former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co is among the subjects of a bid-rigging complaint referred by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to the competition body for possible case filings.

For its part, the PCC said its preliminary inquiry on this case was already underway against Co-linked firms and four other companies as well as former DPWH officials.

Sunwest Inc., which was founded by Co, is listed as a respondent in one of the two bid-rigging and bid-manipulation cases forwarded by the DPWH to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Friday.

The agency also said officials and employees of DPWH Regional Office IV-B are allegedly involved.

‘Despite irregularities surrounding flood control projects in Oriental Mindoro, regional officials failed to act and, instead, continued the projects awarded to Sunwest, Inc.,’ the DPWH said in a statement.

This is in addition to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s move asking the Office of the Ombudsman to recommend filing graft complaints against Co and 17 others, including DPWH officials and Sunwest, over an allegedly substandard flood control project in Oriental Mindoro valued at P289.5 million.

Co was accused of receiving billions of pesos in kickbacks from contractors and DPWH officials who testified in congressional inquiries into flood control projects. He vehemently denied the allegations.

He has since resigned from the House of Representatives, citing a ‘real, direct, grave and imminent threat’ to himself and ‘the lives of my family members.’

In a separate complaint, the DPWH named Wawao Builders, IM Construction Corporation, SYMS Construction Trading, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and officials and employees of the DPWH Bulacan 1st District Engineering Office over alleged irregularities in flood control projects in the province uncovered during congressional hearings.

According to the agency, preliminary evidence-including the admissions of contractor Pacifico Discaya and former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee-‘also suggests collusion among the involved contractors and officials,’ which violates Section 14, Chapter III of the Philippine Competition Act.

The measure prohibits certain anti-competitive agreements between competitors.

PCC said the DPWH’s submission includes inspection reports, bid documents, and other relevant documents that may support the PCC Competition Enforcement Office’s (CEO) ongoing preliminary inquiry into possible bid-rigging and collusion among contractors.

PCC-CEO Director Christian Loren De Los Santos said that the competition body is currently gathering evidence, including bid submissions and possible communication exchanges, to determine whether violations of the PCA occurred.

If found guilty, the PCC may impose fines of P110 million for a first offense and between P110 million and P250 million for subsequent offenses on the named firms.

The DPWH said the PCC has also confirmed that penalties may be applied on a per-incident basis and that public works officials and employees could face liability as facilitators.

Meanwhile, the PCC reiterated that individuals or entities ‘involved in cartel conduct’, such as bid-rigging, price fixing, market allocation, or output restriction, may avail of its leniency program, which offers immunity from suit or a reduction of administrative fines to those who voluntarily disclose their participation in anti-competitive agreements and cooperate fully with the commission’s investigation.

‘Only one applicant per violation may be granted full immunity, so early disclosure is encouraged,’ the PCC said in a statement on Friday. /mcm

The Commission on Audit (COA) has submitted four new fraud audit reports to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to aid its investigation of anomalous flood control projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

This brings the COA’s total fraud audit reports to 17, nine of which were earlier submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman and four to the ICI.

The latest reports pertain to four fully paid flood control projects awarded to three contractors by the DPWH’s 1st District Engineering Office in Bulacan, which turned out to be either nonexistent or to have ‘mismatched’ locations.

Two projects by Syms Construction Trading involved flood control structures in Baliuag, worth P92.6 million, and along the Angat River in Pulilan, costing P92.7 million.

According to the COA’s field investigators, the inspection on Sept. 24 showed that there was no such structure that existed in the DPWH-approved location in Baliuag.

The first district engineering office ‘instead pinpointed’ to auditors a different location ‘but offered no explanation for the change.’

Location mismatch

‘Despite this, COA proceeded to inspect the site . where it found an existing structure that utterly failed to meet the project specifications,’ the COA said.

The auditors also noted that the district office also failed to submit a ‘significant number of critical support documents’ to the COA despite having ‘fully paid’ Syms Construction.

For the Pulilan flood control project, the COA said a separate inspection was conducted on Sept. 17.

‘While the pinpointed site and the approved project location are within the same general area, COA only saw an abandoned slope protection structure,’ the agency stressed. ‘Moreover, based on information available to COA, the structure already existed prior to the project’s start date.’

‘Again, COA underscores that this is another ghost project,’ it said.

Another company flagged by COA was Topnotch Catalyst Builders Inc., which was involved in the construction of a riverbank protection structure in Barangay Bagong Silang in Plaridel with a contract cost of P69.4 million.

The inspection last Sept. 15 showed that this was yet another case of a ‘mismatched project site.’

‘At the original approved project site, COA did not find any flood control structure,’ the statement added. ‘While at the pinpointed location, COA found a flood control structure which falls short of the approved specifications.’

Corruption charges

The third company is Triple 8 Construction and Supply Inc., which was involved in the construction of a riverwall in Barangay Pagala in Baliuag with a contract cost of P96.4 million.

No flood control project was again seen at the approved location during the COA’s inspection last Sept. 23, according to state auditors, and at the pinpointed different location, the flood control structure ‘drastically falls short of the approved plan.’

Most of the DPWH officials tagged in the projects were district engineer Henry Alcantara; assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez; planning and design section chief Ernesto Galang; construction section chief Jaypee Mendoza; engineers Irene Otingco, Joshua Blitz Roxas, Bernardo Villafuerte, John Michael Ramos Raymond Tolentino, Lorenzo Pagtalunan, Elmer Arellano and Lemuel Ephraim Roque, and contractors Sally Santos (Syms Construction), Eumir Villanueva (Topnotch Catalyst) and Wilfredo Natividad (Triple 8), along with the latter company’s officers and board members.

‘The individuals involved may face charges for graft and corruption under Republic Act 3019 (anti-graft law), malversation and falsification of documents under the Revised Penal Code, as well as violations of COA Circular No. 2009-001 and the Government Procurement Reform Act,’ the COA said.

The Philippine government awarded more than ?5.72 trillion in contracts from 2000 to 2021 across its top 10 procurement categories. An overwhelming ?4 trillion – or 81 percent – went to construction projects, yet floods continue to cripple communities nationwide.

This is according to an analysis of PhilGEPS procurement data by Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, INQUIRER Metrics data scientist and associate professor at the University of the Philippines.

‘Trillions have already sunk into concrete, yet the waters keep rising,’ Panao wrote. ‘[D]espite this torrent of spending, floods continue to paralyze communities, exposing how concrete often serves politics as much as public need.’

Construction dwarfs other spending

The data shows how construction has dominated government spending, dwarfing other vital sectors. Construction projects accounted for ?4.65 trillion, while an additional ?96.4 billion went to construction materials – together making up the vast bulk of procurement across two decades.

By comparison, Information Technology (?152.2 billion) ranked third in procurement, a figure that Panao noted ‘sits unusually high,’ reflecting both modernization efforts and ‘suspicions of overpriced, fragmented systems.’

Spending on health fell far behind. Drugs and medicines (?132.4 billion) and medical supplies and laboratory instruments (?74.2 billion) combined barely reached four percent of construction’s total.

The numbers, Panao explained, stress how ‘health spending, though vital, has struggled to compete with the politics of infrastructure,’ Panao said.

Other procurement categories included services (?125.3 billion), vehicles (?113.1 billion), lease and rental of property or building (?89.9 billion), and food stuff (?84.2 billion) – underscoring the heavy bias for physical infrastructure.

A recurring flood of spending

Despite the torrent of funds, floods remain one of the country’s most persistent and destructive disasters. The International Disaster Database earlier reported that storms and floods accounted for nearly two-thirds of all Philippine calamities from 2000 to 2024.

Panao warned that infrastructure-driven policies risk being ‘rich in contracts, poor in integrity’ if accountability and transparency are not strengthened.

The release of the PhilGEPS data comes as the Commission on Audit (COA) has filed a series of fraud audit reports on flood-control projects. Just in September, COA flagged multiple projects in Bulacan and Bicol as either nonexistent, duplicated, or built on mismatched sites – raising concerns over how billions in flood infrastructure are spent.

At the same time, public anger has mounted over revelations that just 15 contractors cornered more than ?100 billion worth of flood-control funds since 2022. Protesters have linked this concentration of spending to the ‘ghost projects’ scandal, which continues to fuel calls for accountability.

According to Panao, the figures show that even with trillions of pesos poured into construction projects, flooding has continued to affect communities nationwide. His analysis noted that this pattern reflects the limits of infrastructure spending when it comes to addressing recurring climate-related risks.

A manifesto against tobacco industry interference was launched by over 100 organizations and individuals, calling on the government to take ‘immediate and decisive action’ on the ‘manipulative and deceptive tactics’ that are making young people addicted to nicotine-based products.

Released in Pasig City last week, the manifesto, co-developed by the TobaccOFF NOW! Movement with 79 youth organizations, serves as a collective stand from young Filipinos, who are asserting their right to ‘shape our own lives’ and ‘refuse to let our health and well-being be compromised by the tobacco industry.’

This, as they hit what they have described as the tobacco industry’s desire to create a new generation addicted to traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes/vapes, nicotine pouches, and other nicotine-based products, saying that ‘we will not be deceived and manipulated, nor will we be a casualty in a public health crisis that is not of our making.’

‘The time for silent acceptance is over. This is our collective voice and our commitment,’ they said as they demanded that the government consider raising the restricted age for nicotine products, eliminating the flavors of electronic cigarettes/vapes, and terminating ‘appealing’ packaging designs.

As pointed out in the manifesto, there should also be stronger regulations on the distribution of nicotine products, as well as the imposition of a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising, sales, and promotions of nicotine-based products, and an increased tax ‘to create an economic barrier that serves as a powerful deterrent to youth consumption.’

‘We have seen the alarming rise of a new generation hooked on traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes/vapes, and other nicotine-based products, with 1 in 7 Filipino youth having tried e-cigarettes/vapes at least once in their lives,’ said the manifesto, which was released on the celebration of World Lung Day.

They said ‘we demand accountability from those who profit from our suffering and courage from those who govern our nation to make us, the young people of this country, your priority.’

The event drew a diverse crowd, including representatives from leading tobacco control and public health organizations such as ImagineLaw, the Philippine Smoke-free Network, HealthJustice Philippines, Transcend, and the Ateneo School of Government, highlighting the widespread support for the movement’s mission of highlighting youth voices.

Comedian Gil Aducal Morales, who uses the screen name Ate Gay, has nothing but gratitude as he shared that the lump on his neck has been gradually shrinking after undergoing treatments for his stage 4 cancer.

Ate Gay has been diagnosed with mucoepidermoid squamous cell carcinoma, a rare type of cancer caused by mucous-secreting cells, squamous cells, and intermediate-type cells.

The actor-comedian has been documenting his medical journey through his Facebook page, sharing on Thursday. Oct. 2, that he was already on his fourth day of undergoing radiation therapy.

‘Ang bilis ng pagliit ng bukol in 3 days. [From] 10cm naging 8.5,’ he said. ‘Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat na nanalangin ng aking agarang paggaling. Patuloy lang po.’

(My lump has drastically shrunk in just three days, from 10 cm to 8.5 cm. Thank you to all those who are praying for my healing. Please continue doing so.)

In separate posts, he thanked the medical staff who have been handling his treatment sessions and called them his ‘angels.’ One of the photos even shows Ate Gay, in his trademark humor, hugging a male medical staffer seemingly in admiration.

Ate Gay also showed himself in a hospital gown while lying on the bed and with a nasal cannula.

‘Salamat po sa dasal,’ he reiterated. (Thank you for the prayers.)

Ate Gay first revealed his diagnosis last Sept. 20. He disclosed days later that an unnamed individual had offered to pay for his chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The comedian is best known for his impersonation of the late National Artist Nora Aunor.

Tickets for the inaugural Fifa Women’s Futsal World Cup that will start on Nov. 21 at Philsports Arena in Pasig City can now be availed online, and fans won’t need to spend a fortune to witness the Filipina5 and some of the best in the indoor scene strut their wares.

Fifa and the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) said tickets for the group stage are priced at P1,399 for premium seating and P699 and P499 for the lower and higher sections of the general admission, respectively.

Prices are for each doubleheader, as there will be three matchdays that are going to have four games, and can be purchased through the tickets section of Fifa’s website.

World Cup tickets were made available last Sept. 27 after a presale period.

The Philippines will play host to the first staging of the competition, and joins 15 other nations that were divided into four groups.

The Filipina5 will face Poland in the opening doubleheader of the competition while they’ll also take on Morocco on Nov. 24 and Argentina on Nov. 27 in Group A.

Also in the tournament are Spain, Thailand, Colombia and Canada in Group B, Portugal, Japan, New Zealand and Tanzania in Group C and Brazil, Iran, Italy and Panama in Group D.

Coach Rafa Merino and his Philippine squad are currently in Japan as part of their buildup for the World Cup. The Filipina5 also faced their Japanese counterparts in a friendly.

During their stay, the squad was able to catch up with Paris Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo, who is also training with the national gymnastics team.

Yulo even joined the team in a social media video to promote the upcoming World Cup.

With talks of a possible budget cut for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for fiscal year 2026, netizens and observers cannot help but recall the time when former Vice President Leni Robredo was able to effectively carry out her mandate despite a small allocation.

So how did Robredo, who was in OVP from 2016 to 2022, steer her office and even attract private sector engagement through those tumultuous years?

Integrity and credibility may be a factor, Deputy Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Friday.

‘During the time of former Vice President Leni Robredo, she was resourceful (with the budget). I think it also goes with the integrity and credibility of the person right?’ Adiong said, when discussing with reporters the possible budget cut on the current OVP, under Vice President Sara Duterte.

‘Vice President Leni Robredo (maximized that) because the trust rating of some of the NGOs (non government organizations) and CSOs (civil society organizations) and private sectors are so high to a point that they are willing to co-operate and assist the office, so that the plans and programs of her office before as vice president will be implemented properly,’ he added.

OVP’s budget under Robredo – which was crafted during the time of Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte – suffered several cuts, with National Expenditures Program (NEP) versions not breaching the P1 billion mark.

According to the Department of Budget and Management’s Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for fiscal year 2023, OVP in 2021 proposed a budget of P945.4 million for Robredo’s last year in office. It was then slashed down to P713.4 million under the 2022 NEP – prompting lawmakers to ask that it be increased to at least P1 billion.

Fulfilling mandate

Robredo, several times while she was vice president, noted that a low budget would not hinder her office from fulfilling its mandate.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robredo and OVP partnered with the private sector to deliver key services – like free bus rides for frontline workers, hot meals, quarantine facilities, mobile testing centers, and a telemedicine platform, which became an important part of triage.

In contrast, Duterte’s OVP received P2.305 billion in 2023 under the NEP – an amount which several lawmakers noted has never been given to Robredo.

In 2024, during discussions for the 2025 budget, OVP was originally allocated a P2.037 billion budget, but lawmakers from the House decided to cut this down to just P733 million due to Duterte’s behavior at hearings – skipping discussions and refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions directly – and revelations that some of its programs suffered from low budget utilization.

While Duterte showed up at the committee hearing on the OVP’s proposed budget, the Vice President and her officials skipped plenary debates. On Thursday, no OVP official appeared to assist budget sponsor and Palawan 2nd District Rep. Jose Alvarez, prompting lawmakers from the Minority bloc to call for the cut on the OVP’s proposed allocation.

House rules call for the head of agency or an undersecretary-level official to be present and assist the budget sponsor.

Instead of showing up, Duterte said she will appear only if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself appears to defend the Office of the President budget, or if lookout bulletins issued against several OVP staffers are lifted.

Retain P700-M allocation

OVP is asking for a P902.8 million budget under the 2026 NEP – slightly larger than the P744.1 million given in 2025. However, if it were up to Adiong, the P700-plus million allocation for 2025 should be retained after Duterte skipped plenary debates again.

‘I think it’s an open-ended discussion, because first of all, her non-attendance actually brought out many sentiments from the members as to why she can’t, up to now, show up at the plenary. So naturally, talagang the issue on the reduction of our budget with definite results,’ Adiong said.

‘So the budget that we had approved is P700 (million), if I’m not mistaken, P700 million. The proposal now is P900 (million). But the proposal, the one that we had approved is I guess 700 million. So I would go with 700 million,’ he added.

According to Adiong – who was the OVP’s budget sponsor in 2024 – Duterte could have defended the increase in their budget if she or an undersecretary just showed up.

‘I believe the increase of P200 million would (be) on the consultancy piece, at saka ‘yong mga additional supplies. So sayang nga lang kasi hindi siya pumunta, you could have at least defended that and explained to the plenary and convinced the members why she needed that P200 (million plus increase. Unfortunately, no explanation at all. That’s why, sa amin, my working draft would still be on the P700 (million),’ he added.

This P700 million will still be higher than ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s proposal to significantly reduce OVP’s budget from P902 million to just P198 million.

The alert level in Central Luzon has been raised from blue to red amid the impact of Typhoon Paolo, requiring the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMC) to ‘closely monitor, consolidate, and ensure prompt coordination with the concerned agencies and offices.’

Retired police general Amado Corpuz, chair of the Regional DRRMC in Central Luzon, raised the alert through Memorandum No. 91.

The red alert also required 24/7 operations by RDRRMC members and local DRRMCs.

Various Central Luzon towns were placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals 1-3 as Paolo’s center was estimated in Aurora province’s northern town of Dilasag.

As of 2 p.m., Pampanga has 60 flooded villages in the City of San Fernando (2), Sea. Ana (1), Apalit (2), Candaba (2), Macabebe (19), Macabebe (19), Minalin (13), and San Simon (2), according to the Pampanga DRRMC

The ongoing pest infestation currently affecting sugarcane farms in Negros Occidental and neighboring areas calls for sugar importation to avert any potential supply shortage.

This is according to Enrique Rojas, president of National Federation of Sugarcane Planters. Rojas said the group supports the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) projection of lower sugar output for crop year 2025-2026. This was attributed to the prevalence of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) and unfavorable weather conditions.

‘This makes it necessary to import but any importation should be judiciously managed in terms of the volume and timing of arrival, so that our farmers will not be placed at a disadvantage against these cheaper, subsidized imported sugar,’ Rojas said in a message.

Rojas also said production in the past crop years has been insufficient to meet the demand for the sweetener.

The SRA estimated that sugar production would decrease by 7.9 percent to 1.92 million metric tons (MT) in crop year 2025-2026. This would come down from the actual output of 2.09 million in the previous crop year.

In Sugar Order No. 1 for the current crop year, the SRA said the potential production decline is due to the RSSI infestation and excessive rainfall in Negros.

With this, the SRA designated all sugar production for the current season for domestic consumption.

Rojas said the RSSI ‘has undoubtedly damaged’ sugarcane crops in Negros. The island accounts for 65 percent of the country’s sugar production.

Hope for recovery

‘Hopefully, after all the RSSI-affected canes are harvested in the early months of the season, our prospective crops can recover and we can produce enough sugar to fill our domestic demand, so that there will be no need for sugar importation in the coming crop years,’ he added.

The SRA reported the first RSSI case in May affecting certain sugarcane plantations in Negros Occidental.

According to the agency, the pest attacks sugarcane leaves and reduces sugar content of infested sugarcanes by as much as 50 percent if not contained. It can cause yellowing leaves, stunted growth and shortened internodes,

In June, the Department of Agriculture allotted P10 million in financial assistance to support efforts to eliminate the pest disease.

The SRA issued an order requiring industry stakeholders to secure a permit before transporting sugarcane plants and planting materials. This is intended to prevent the spread of pests and diseases in sugarcane areas. /rwd