Farmer Salustiano Mariano uses a knife to harvest sugar cane in Bacsil North, Ilocos Norte in this Sept. 29, 2005 file photo.
PHILIPPINE production of raw sugar continued to decline as of early December, reaching 311,617 metric tons (MT), down 27.48 percent from the figure recorded in the same period in 2018, latest data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed.