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NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines -- The government should implement a crash program to boost sugarcane production with the purpose of using more ethanol for fuel, Senator Mar Roxas said.

“Now that the price of oil is temporarily abating, the government must seize the opportunity to boost the search for alternative fuels and wean off the country from its dependence on imported petroleum,” said Roxas, while visiting Negros Occidental, also known as the ‘sugarbowl’ of the country, which accounts for more than half of the Philippines’ production of sugar.

“The Philippines remains prone to severe oil shocks and we should not sit idly by, dreadfully anticipating another round of price increases. We have 370,000 hectares in the country that can be tapped for expansion or conversion into sugarcane plantations,” he said, noting that a National Biofuel Board is in charge of overseeing implementation of RA 9367, the Biofuels Law, as well as promotion of alternative sources of fuel.

Senator Roxas is co-author of the Biofuels Law. The law mandates a 5.0 percent ethanol blend in gasoline by 2009, two years after its effectivity. By 2012, five years after effectivity, a 10.0 percent blend will be required.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration says that about 16 percent of the 389,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation nationwide is needed to produce the 269 million liters of ethanol to meet the 5.0 percent requirement next year.

In 2012, 38 percent of the total sugarcane plantation area nationwide will be needed to produce the 624 million liters of ethanol to meet the 10.0 percent requirement.

“Our companies are required to meet a minimum ethanol mix in gasoline over the next five years. But if we’re able to increase sugarcane production and the ethanol supply, our energy companies will be able to increase their ethanol mix above the law’s minimum requirement, and find it more cost-effective to do so,” the senator said.

• Senate to probe BIR for taxing sugar co-ops -- Mar Roxas
• Oil prices rise as Hurricane Ike halts US energy production
• 10 remote Samar villages get solar power

• 10-year govt bonds fetch $1.5B
• Govt sees ’09 mining investments at $1B
• SMC: $10M for right to Petron stock
• Group to take over Transco on Thursday
• PDIC eyes new assessment method
• Not a product of creative writing