Labor group urges cash aid over aerial spraying for Negros sugarcane pest

BACOLOD CITY — A labor group has urged government officials in Negros Island to stop what it described as “wasteful” aerial spraying against the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation and instead provide direct cash assistance to thousands of affected sugar farmers and workers. In an open letter released to the media on Monday, Roland de la Cruz, president of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines–Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NACUSIP–TUCP), raised alarm over the rapid spread of the pest, which has infested more than 78,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Citing data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the labor group said the infestation has reached “catastrophic” levels. According to NACUSIP–TUCP, the pest has affected 61,242 hectares in Negros Occidental, or 32.18 percent of the province’s total sugarcane area, while 16,970 hectares, or about 34.7 percent of sugar lands in Negros Oriental, have also been infested. With crop losses estimated at up to 50 percent, the group warned that thousands of farmworkers, sugar mill employees, and agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) face severe economic hardship. NACUSIP–TUCP commended Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for placing the province under a state of calamity, allowing the release of emergency funds through the provincial Quick Response Fund. It also praised Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria for creating a provincial task force to address the infestation, while urging the provincial board to declare a state of calamity immediately to unlock additional resources. However, the union said the effectiveness of the government’s response would depend on how emergency funds are spent. “Our farmworkers cannot afford to let local emergency funds get tied up in bureaucratic red tape,” the group said, urging officials to release financial assistance directly to affected workers and farmers. “Deliver emergency calamity funds directly into the hands of the individuals working the soil,” it added. The labor group also questioned the SRA’s aerial and drone-based chemical spraying campaign, claiming field experts and sugar workers have documented its failure. According to NACUSIP–TUCP, the RSSI feeds and reproduces on the underside of sugarcane leaves, making overhead spraying largely ineffective because chemicals reach the upper canopy only while the insects survive and spread to nearby farms. The group acknowledged that aerial spraying conducted by the SRA in 2025 temporarily slowed the spread of the pest after it first emerged in 2024, but argued that the widespread infestation this year shows the strategy is not a long-term solution. NACUSIP–TUCP called on the SRA and local government units to discontinue costly aerial spraying operations and instead redirect funds to direct crop subsidies and science-based, environmentally sustainable pest management, including biological control measures and targeted ground spraying.