The various sugar groups are urging Congress to revise the ProGRESS tax reform bill, warning its current design will further shrink local cane sugar use as cheaper alternatives dominate. The Department of Finance-backed measure would raise the sweetened beverage tax tiers to P20 and P40 per liter without reclassifying sweeteners, a change producers say will push manufacturers to replace cane sugar entirely.
In a letter to the Sugar Regulatory Administration, five major industry bodies noted artificial sweetener imports rose from zero pre-TRAIN to 503,117 metric tons or 18.40 percent of the market by 2023–2025. Local refined sugar demand fell 13.89 percent with domestic supply dropping from 65.77 percent to 59.35 percent of the market; lost HFCS share went to other sweeteners, not cane sugar.
Cane sugar currently shares the P6-per-liter bracket with high-intensity sweeteners that are 200–600 times sweeter and enter at 1–3 percent duty or duty-free under ASEAN terms, while HFCS stands at P12 and pure stevia is untaxed. Stakeholders said raising rates without restructuring will only widen this cost gap.
They propose drinks using only local pure cane sugar stay at P6 per liter, while all others—including blends, non-cane sweeteners, and unverifiable imports—pay P40. Pure coconut sap sugar would keep its exemption, annual indexation would rise to 6 percent from 5 percent, and rules would apply equally to flavored milk and sweetened coffee categories. Taxation would shift from volume to sweetness content, and verification through SRA and BIR records would separate eligible domestic products from imports lacking clear supply trails.
