May 22, 2015
Visayan Daily Star by Carla P. Gomez | http://goo.gl/eNiDmt
The Sugar Regulatory Administration is holding additional consultations on the implementing rules and regulations of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 , SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin said yesterday.
A consultation will be held in Bais City, Negros Oriental, on Monday, and in Iloilo City on Thursday, she said.
Earlier consultations were held in Quezon City for Luzon and Bacolod City for the Visayas, and another in Davao City for Mindanao yesterday.
The SRA will then submit its final IRR draft to the secretary of agriculture at the end of the month for signing, Martin said.
Under the law, the Department of Budget and Management is mandated to include annually, starting 2016, an amount of P2 billion, for the sugarcane industry's development.
Of the amount, 15 percent will go to grants for block farms, 15 percent to socialized credit, 15 percent to research and development, 5 percent for scholarship grants and 50 percent for infrastructure support programs.
Martin said that should the DBM have a supplemental budget passed by Congress, it is still possible that P2 billion could be allocated for the sugarcane industry for 2015.
The Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 IRR states that it is the policy of the state to promote the competitiveness of the sugarcane industry, maximize the utilization of sugarcane resources, and to improve the incomes of farmers and farm workers, through productivity, product diversification, job generation and increased efficiency of sugar mills.*CP