BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL – The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is among the presenters at the recently concluded Joint Sugar Tripartite Council (STC) and District Tripartite Councils (DTC) Congress held from November 7 to 8, 2024, in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

ILS Chief Labor and Employment Officer Miraluna S. Tacadao and Senior Labor and Employment Officer Joan N. Comillo presented the study titled “Revisiting Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the Sugar Industry using the Transformative Social Protection Framework.”

Under Republic Act No. 6982, or the Social Amelioration Act of 1991, SAP is intended to augment the income of sugar workers and institutionalize mechanisms to enable the workers and their families to enjoy a decent living. After decades of implementation, revisiting SAP as a holistic social protection intervention is deemed timely and relevant to determine which areas succeed and need improvement in realizing the program objectives.​

Apart from the study, the presentation of the consultations, outputs, and validation of comments on the proposed revision of the implementing rules and regulations of the Social Amelioration Act was also the highlight of the 2024 STC and DTCs congress.

The Workers’ Social Amelioration Development Division of the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns organized the event. Members of the STC and DTC, program partners, industry leaders, and stakeholders from the country's ten (10) sugar-producing regions are among the delegates of the congress.

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