‘No one off the hook yet in sugar probe’

MANILA, Philippines — No official is off the hook as far as the sugar fiasco is concerned, as the Senate is not yet done with its inquiry into the attempt to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar allegedly meant to favor hoarders and impoverishing farmers in the process, senators said yesterday.

In separate statements, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor Ejercito stressed all those involved in the controversy would still have more explaining to do as they all have been pointing at each other at the hearing of the Blue Ribbon committee last week.

“Too early to clear and too early to blame. All I can say is that no one is off the hook yet,” Pimentel told reporters, adding he still has a few questions to ask Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez at the continuation of the inquiry today.

“It’s too early to clear people when we haven’t really finished the investigation. I myself has yet to ask questions and clarifications,” Ejercito said.

Last week, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Rodriguez should not be dragged into the issuance of the Sugar Order No. 4 last Aug. 9 that was revoked by President Marcos.

Pimentel, however, said he would seek clarification from Rodriguez on his memo that he sent then agriculture undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian last July an outline of his duties and responsibilities at the Department of Agriculture (DA) that include acting on behalf of the agency head at the SRA.

Sebastian told the committee chaired by Sen. Francis Tolentino last week that he signed the SO4 on behalf of Marcos, who is concurrently agriculture secretary, based on the authority given to him by Rodriguez.

Pimentel said he will ask Rodriguez about his interpretation of the memo he gave to Sebastian.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros has sought the re-summoning of Rodriguez, saying there seems to be a “disconnect” between Malacañang’s claim that he had no prior knowledge of the aborted import order and subsequent news reports.

Hontiveros said as early as Aug. 5, Sebastian already submitted a draft of the order and a memo for the President to Rodriguez after the former and other SRA officials gave a briefing on the country’s dwindling sugar inventory the previous month.

She also found it “puzzling” why Rodriguez’s office acted as if it was the first time they heard of such a memorandum when it was revealed that the office was in the loop.

“This was not about one man misinterpreting intent and acting outside powers. This is the fallout of a messy, haphazard bureaucracy. Let’s not minimize the damage this has caused,” she said.

P2-B subsidy

Apart from a higher budget, the SRA also hopes to get the full funding amounting to P2 billion under the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) next year to boost the sugar industry.

“With the national government’s thrust on food security, the budget increase can be used for research and development programs and support services for small farmers, especially for block farms,” SRA acting administrator David Alba said in a statement yesterday.

Of the eight agricultural agencies under the DA, the SRA was allotted the second highest jump in subsidies reaching P1 billion, up by 41 percent from P712.2 million this year.

The SRA hopes that the P2-billion allocation under the SIDA will be given next year. This year’s SIDA funding was reduced from the original P2-billion allocation to just P500 million.

Earlier, Alba said the SRA has been accused of under-utilizing the SIDA fund. He had asked Congress to help circumvent the red tape and go full blast in utilizing the SIDA fund by next year to make the sugar industry globally competitive.

The SRA also welcomed the P19.5 billion allocated for fertilizer support, as prices of fertilizers have tripled in the last three years.

“We hope that sugar farmers and all other agriculture industry will benefit from this earmarked program,” Alba said.

For the current crop year ending Aug. 31, the SRA slashed its final crop estimate from 2.072 million MT to 1.982 million MT due to the effect of typhoons and La Niña.

As of Aug. 7, SRA data showed sugar production has reached 1.793 million MT, 16.14 percent lower than the 2.138 million MT produced in the previous crop year.

For the next crop year, the country’s need is pegged at 2.5 million MT and this can be served by local production. – Danessa Rivera