Manila, March 20 -- It is the middlemen, traders and repackers who are jacking up the retail prices of sugar.
This was the outcry of farmers and producers as they face the proposed liberalization of sugar.
"As far as farm-gate price is concerned, it's already down. We are selling at PHP1,400 per 50-kilo bag. That means you should get it for PHP28 a kilo at retail. But you get it for PHP60 a kilo in supermarket," said Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, Inc. (CONFED) Board Member Salvador Escalante in an interview.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, on the other hand, said the price of sugar should not be that high since the farm gate price of raw sugar is not expensive.
"We really have to figure out how to tax the middlemen," he sai...