Some 2,000 protesters allied with different sugar organizations have staged a vociferous rally in front of the Coca-Cola Bottlers office in Bacolod City on Tuesday, June 21. They accused the giant soft drinks company of further emasculating the country’s ailing sugar industry to the detriment of some 5 million Filipinos who depend on sugar for their livelihood.
Winnie Sancho, spokesman for Sugar Watch, said Coca-Cola’s continued preference for imported sweeteners like pre-mix sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) over locally-produced sugar is driving both planters and farm laborers to privation, and any perceived recovery of the local sugar industry could amount to nothing.
Sancho said local sugar producers, particularly from Negros and Panay, can meet the demand of Coca-Cola but are ignored to the chagrin of its millions of dependents.
"If Coke continues to ignore us, then we might opt for a boycott of Coke products," Sancho threatened.
But in spite of the protesters’ livid pronouncement against Coca-Cola, Sancho said the various sugar con-federations around the country are willing to sit down with its top executives to thresh out the problem and find a solution benefiting all parties concerned. (PNA) /MP
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