UNIFED urges Davao mayor to run for president

The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), one of the sugar industry’s biggest planters’ groups, has joined the increasing calls for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to seriously consider running for president in the May 2022 elections.

In a manifesto of support, the UNIFED led by president Manuel Lamata said they “strongly believe” that just like her father President Rodrigo Duterte, Mayor Sara “will have the sugar industry’s interest at heart” by supporting and enabling the agriculture sector in achieving food self-sufficiency.

“We believe that Mayor Sara embodies the ideals and will play a major role to ensure the survival and sustainability of our sugar industry,” the group added.

Nationwide, UNIFED has more than 30,000 member-planters, which comprise 21 percent of the entire industry’s sugar producers.

They said that the sugar industry is still one of the major drivers of economic growth, contributing more than P95 billion to the nation’s coffers, yet it “get[s] very little appreciation and support from economic managers that view the agricultural sector’s contribution lightly”.

UNIFED added that the threat of sugar liberalization, sugar smuggling, and lack of support for modernization efforts are just among the problems besetting the industry.

“All these we take into consideration in choosing the leader that we are convinced will provide us assurance and will continue to look after the welfare of the more than five-million industry stakeholders all over the country,” UNIFED further said.

“It is this and more, that prod UNIFED to issue this manifesto of support as we believe that Mayor Sara embodies the ideals and will play a major role to ensure the survival and sustainability of our sugar industry,” they added.

The UNIFED also said that Mayor Sara “possesses the qualities that a leader must have to unify the country especially in these challenging times, and at the same time, continue and improve on the gains we’ve made as a nation”.

“Mayor Sara has shown her mettle in governance, even outside of Davao. We have seen her courage and we are certain that she has the political will to effect change that will benefit our government and the people,” they said, adding that she also “embraces advocacies that gained her admiration from various sectors, in particular for her programs that support women and children and empowering the marginalized”.

Aside from that, “[h]er high performance rating as local chief executive suggests that she is a good leader who can replicate the advances they’ve made at the national level,” UNIFED said.

“She may be her father’s daughter, but Mayor Sara has never abused this privilege and has in fact shown independence in her decision-making even when it is contrary to that made by the present leadership. We are also convinced that she is the best candidate to further improve our foreign relations,” the group said.

The UNIFED said that although Mayor Sara “continues to be ambivalent to the idea of running for the presidency,” they “believe that if she sees and hear the plea of the Filipino as a nation, she will find that resolve to declare her candidacy”.

The manifesto was signed by presidents of 11 planters association-members of UNIFED in Negros Occidental.*