THE Palace appointed Friday Pablo Luis Azcona as the acting administrator and chief executive officer of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
This was contained in a press release from the Presidential Communications Office, released today, but the appointment was on April 20, 2023.
In a Zoom interview, Azcona said he would prioritize donating the seized smuggled sugar supplies to Kadiwa, helping sugar farmers prepare for El Niño, and briefing the Palace about sugar industry.
At the same time, Azcona maintained the controversial importation of 440,000 metric tons of sugar underwent the proper procedures, saying
“All that [SRA] did was above board and practically following the procedures,” Azcona told reporters in the Zoom interview.
Azcona’s statement was seen as a reply to Senator Risa Hontiveros who continues to question the legality of the importation since it was not covered by previous sugar orders from the SRA.
“An SRA sugar order is our very imperfect instrument for balancing the welfare of farmers, planters and millers on the one hand and of consumers and food manufacturers, on the other hand, who must also rely on imports to augment the limited supply,” said Hontiveros.
In February, Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution 497 seeking a Blue Ribbon committee probe into the entries of around 440,000 metric tons of sugar in Philippine ports ahead of the issuance of Sugar Order 6.
Azcona, previously an SRA board member, replaced former Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, the acting head for a while following alleged irregularities in the country’s sugar importation which hounded the SRA, which prompted the Senate to launch an investigation. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
Hontiveros said Panganiban, who represented Mr. Marcos in the Sugar Regulatory Administration Board, had a January 12 letter addressed to
one of the alleged sugar importers of the questioned importation, saying the allocation was “per instruction of Executive Secretary [Lucas] Bersamin.”
Panganiban, however, said he interpreted the memorandum issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary as an approval to proceed with the
importation as he instructed “three capable and accredited companies to proceed with the importation of sugar provided that they agree to
reduce the prices of sugar.”
Azcona said the questioned importation had gone through a process as “we get stakeholders’ inquiries.”
“The figure was really narrowed down to 440,000… Everything was done properly, the schedules were done. We followed all the rules and we
corrected all the issues brought about by the SO3,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture, on March 2, gave its go-signal for the release of the imported sugar that was flagged by Hontiveros as not
covered by earlier sugar orders.
In related developments:
The tons of confiscated smuggled sugar are targeted to be sold at Kadiwa stores in the coming month, Azcona said Friday.
The SRA last week said it had amended several rules to authorize the donation of confiscated smuggled sugar to Kadiwa stores and allow its
sale to the general public.
“In due time, I cannot give a specific date… But, we are trying our best to get it done. Our target is hopefully by May everything is
okay,” Azcona told reporters in the Zoom interview.
Azcona said a total of 4,000 metric tons of seized smuggled refined sugar are ready to be released for sale at Kadiwa stores at P70 per kilo.
Asked why P70 per kilo, Azcona said: “It’s difficult to go below P70 [per kilo] because it’s only 4,000 [MT]. Our production locally is 1.8
million [MT]. If we make it lower… it will be to the detriment of farmers and dependents.”
“That is the rule of the SRA to try and maintain a careful balance between the farmers planting and the retail customers,” he added.
Sen. Hontiveros bewailed the government’s alleged continuing failure to act on smuggled sugar.
“We were again deceived by the government,” said Hontiveros.
“It’s hurting that instead of addressing the problem on sugar, she lamented that the Sugar Regulatory Administration instead attempted to
legalize the entry of thousands of tons of smuggled sugar.
She said it’s been two months since she unearthed their modus operandi in smuggling sugar from Thailand which entered the country through
Batangas port.
Also appointed in the DA was Robert C. Suguitan as Senior Deputy Administrator of the National Irrigation Administration, according to
the PCO.