The Makabayan lawmakers have cautioned President Duterte’s economic managers against pursuing the full liberalization of the sugar industry, saying that it would mean a livelihood loss for the sugar farm workers “not only for three months but for a lifetime”.
Under HR 439, they urged the House leadership and the Lower Chamber as an institution to “stand behind” the farm workers, mill workers, and small planters of the sugar industry in opposing the economic managers’ plan to implement the full liberalization of the industry. The Makabayan bloc said the farm workers who are the lowest paid in our economy, earning only an average of P115-125 per day for men, and P110-115 per day for women and children, “will stand to lose the most if the industry is fully liberalized.”