Batangas sugarcane workers and farmers picketed various government agencies in Metro Manila on January 22. Led by Sugarfolks’ Unity for Genuine Agricultural Reform (Sugar)-Batangas and Alyansa ng Mga Magsasaka para sa Kumpensasyon (AMK), they went to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA)-Main Office.

Sugar-Batangas and AMK laid out three main calls to the agencies of the Marcos regime. First, they requested that the DSWD re-include in the aid list the 168 delisted beneficiaries and “unclaimed” ₱10,000 aid for sugarcane workers. They said these beneficiaries should still get their assistance.

It can be recalled that in 2024 the Sugar-Batangas and Agricultural Workers Union (UMA Pilipinas) in coordination with the Gabriela Women’s Party, successfully asserted the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) Pay-out for over 6,000 sugarcane workers affected by the closure of the CADPI sugarcane in December 2022.

An estimated 12,000 farm workers and more than 7,000 small planters lost their livelihoods due to the closure of CADPI. Estimates in 2020 say the harvest profit from 10,980 hectares in the province was siphoned to CADPI.

Second, they called for significant disaster compensation for the 91 sugarcane planters in the towns of Lemery, Taal and Agoncillo. Severe flooding and submersion in silt when Typhoon Kristine ravaged left nothing of their sugarcane plantation in October 2024. The damage reached more than ₱11 million and left them nothing to mill, according to Sugar-Batangas.

Third, they demand subsidized wages for 1,089 sugarcane workers who lost their jobs because their labor is no longer needed.

Sugar-Batangas and AMK submitted an initial list of devastated farmers and a separate petition to government agencies. “Huge funds can be used to meet the demands of our farmers. Availabe confidential and intelligence funds should be allocated to important sectors such as agriculture,” Sugar-Batangas said.