BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senator Imee Marcos wants an immediate reshuffle of Department of Agriculture top officials, following what she calls the “unauthorized and fraudulent” use of the Office of the President to justify the importation of sugar.
Malacañang issued a statement that a resolution, uploaded on the website of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) but later deleted, was not authorized by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who also sits as SRA chairperson.
The resolution that supposedly approved the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar is “illegal”, Malacañang said Thursday.
“It appears that the resolution was signed for and on behalf of the President by [Department of Agriculture] Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian. He was not authorized to sign such a resolution because the President did not authorize the importation,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a Palace press briefing.
Senator Marcos said that the use of the Office of the President to justify the importation of sugar is ultimate proof that thick faced smugglers are lording over the Department of Agriculture.
An immediate reshuffle of DA’s highest officials is urgent, pending an investigation, to dismantle criminal syndicates within the government, she added.
Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Emilio “Dino” Yulo, a former member of the SRA board, said he is withholding his comment on the issue, pending investigations by Malacañang.
While there is a need to temper the retail prices of sugar due to tightness of supply, Yulo said that the proposed importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar under Sugar Order No. 4, in his personal opinion, is “too big” since there will be 150,000 metric tons of raw sugar an available with the resumption of the milling season.
Yulo added that the 200,000 metric tons of sugar imported for industrial users has not been fully consumed. According to him, the problem with SO 3 is that it was allocated purely for industrial users and cannot be used in the retail market.
Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer, the Personal Adviser for Western Visayas of President Marcos, yesterday reiterated his call for the removal of Herminigildo Serafica as SRA chief because of many problems in the agency.*
