‘Rodriguez Not Entirely Blameless In Sugar Fiasco’

Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez is not entirely blameless in the fiasco behind Sugar Order (SO) No. 4, which sought the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to address the shortage without express approval from President Marcos, a report of the Senate minority bloc stated on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Risa Hontiveros released their own account and recommendations on the investigation of the Blue Ribbon committee on the issuance of SO 4.

The minority’s report counters findings of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee clearing Rodriguez and recommending the prosecution of former Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials on criminal and administrative charges.

On the other hand, the series of actions of former DA undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, former SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Valderrama in signing SO 4 “had overwhelming badges of good faith,” it said.

Pimentel and Hontiveros said Rodriguez should have spared Marcos of the embarrassment and the controversy had he done his job, as it was found that the former intentionally did not respond to repeated text inquiries from Sebastian if the Chief Executive approved the importation.

“If the President did not know about it (SO 4), whose fault is this?” Pimentel told reporters.

The 17-page minority report said there is a “clear, actual, indubitable and undeniable existing sugar shortage, which is dangerous if insufficiently and/or inadequately addressed.”

It also said the recommendation of the majority in the committee for the Office of the Ombudsman to file administrative and criminal charges against Sebastian and the others were lacking in factual and legal basis.

Pimentel and Hontiveros said the former officials were made scapegoats in the Blue Ribbon report as they previously had at least two meetings in Malacañang where they got “signals” that the importation was a go.

Sugar only for domestic use

The SRA Board has finally issued SO 1, allocating the entire local sugar production for crop year 2022-2023 for domestic use.

The policy – dated Aug. 26 but received by the UP Law Center on Tuesday – was signed by President Marcos, who also sits as agriculture secretary and SRA Board chairman.

Other signatories include agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, acting SRA administrator David John Alba, acting board member-millers’ representative Mitzi Mangwag and acting board member-planters’ representative Pablo Luis Azcona.

In the said order, the SRA Board said raw sugar production is expected to reach 1.876 MT for the current crop year starting September. Meanwhile, total domestic raw sugar withdrawal is estimated at 2.03 million MT.

The board said total local production shall be quedanned by the mill companies and will be classified as all “B” sugar or domestic consumption.

Other sugar classifications are “A” for US quota, “C” for reserve and “D” for the world market.

To address the sugar shortfall, SRA earlier said it recommended an importation of 150,000 MT of purely refined sugar under SO2 to stabilize market prices. – With Danessa Rivera