Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) — A senior official from the Department of Agriculture (DA) responded on Wednesday to allegations against the importation of sugar ahead of the effectivity of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) Sugar Order (SO) No. 6.
DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said he interpreted a memorandum issued to him by the Office of the Executive Secretary as a go-signal to proceed with the importation.“In response to the directive of the President, to address inflation and create a buffer stock, and given that sugar is one of the component of most commodities that drive the consistently high inflation rate, I acted with haste and interpreted the memorandum issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary as an approval to proceed with the importation,” Panganiban said in a press briefing.While he is aware that the importation should be covered by an SRA order, Panganiban explained that he took the Executive Secretary’s memorandum as “a manifestation that the directive was really a Sugar Order,” given the urgency of the sugar supply situation in the country.
The memorandum from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin dated Jan. 13 ordered the DA to implement its recommendations to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also the Agriculture Secretary, on the 2nd Sugar Importation Program for the Crop Year 2022-2023.
It said around 100,00 metric tons of sugar “shall be automatically classified as ‘B’ or Domestic Sugar,” while a total of 350,000 metric tons “shall be made available to the domestic market or otherwise designated.”
According to Panganiban, he instructed three “capable and accredited” companies from a three-page list to proceed with the sugar importation as long as they reduce the cost of sugar to a commercially acceptable price.
“Mr. Escaler, Mr. Alvarado, and Mr. Lee — the three companies I have selected from a list that was given to me and I considered them as the most capable importers that we have,” he said.
“The directive was for them to bring it at a time that the sugar in the country is being harvested, and that will be coming in February, March, and April,” the official added.
Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier alleged that the government may have participated in what she called “government-sponsored smuggling,” after a shipment of sugar reportedly arrived in the country ahead of the effectivity of SO No. 6.
The DA official confirmed that the imported sugar arrived in the country on Feb. 9, nearly a week before the SRA issued SO No. 6 on Feb. 15.
READ: Order greenlights 440,000-MT sugar importation
Panganiban, who is also an SRA board member, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was “properly informed” about the arrival of the imported sugar.
