Manila, June 2 -- The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is urgently seeking emergency powers and inter-agency support to combat the fast-growing infestation of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) in Negros Island, home to over 60 percent of the Philippines' sugar production.

In a news release on Monday, the SRA said Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona announced the alarming state of RSSI in the "sugarlandia", during an inter-government agency meeting on Sunday, as he called for strict quarantine measures on the movement of canes and planting materials.

He said studies showed that the pest, which was earlier monitored in Luzon, might have been accidentally brought in to Negros.

"RSSI's presence was first noted in end of March in north...