Resigned DA exec says he signed sugar importation order due to dwindling supply

Resigned Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Monday that he signed Sugar Order No. 4 (SO 4) allowing importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar due to dwindling supply.

Sebastian, who left his post after it was revealed that he signed the importation order without President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s authority, made the statement during a hearing on the SO 4 jointly conducted by the House Committee on Good Government and Accountability and the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.

"I signed the documents based on the data presented to me, based on data presented by the SRA (Sugar Regulatory Administration). There is a clear indication of the rapidly diminishing supply of sugar," Sebastian said.

"The current supply is projected to run out in August 2022 and end of crop year  2021-2022. I cannot stand watching Filipinos suffer from high local prices of sugar that are hurting Filipino consumers," he added.

Sebastian said data from the Philippine Statistics Authority and the National Economic Development Authority from 2015 to 2019 show that the country's average annual shortage in sugar supply is a little more than 530,000 metric tons, broken down to average annual deficit of 203,000 metric tons of raw sugar and 332,000 metric tons for refined sugar.

"The total annual deficit is attributable to local activity, small farm sizes and low sugar milling efficiency among others. And for this year, there is an effect of typhoon Odette  and the high prices of fertilizer," Sebastian said.

"The SRA can provide the specifics of these computations on the deficit and the estimates by the stakeholders or the volume for importation."

The lawmakers, however, said Sebastian's good intentions were not enough without authority.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Sebastian, but I'd like to remind you... that you have an authorizer who happens to be President Ferdinand Marcos.  He is still the president of the country," said Bulacan Representative Florida Robes, chairperson of the House good government and public accountability panel.

"I empathize with you for caring for the Filipino people. But I guess the more credible person to see that [a sugar importation is needed] is the President of the country, no less than the President Bongbong Marcos. There's a process flow here and [the] policy authorizer has, actually, the capacity to choose the implementers. I think there has been miscommunication on board," Robes added.

Marcos currently heads the DA and sits as chairperson of the SRA.

During the same hearing, Philippine Sugar Millers Association President Pablo Lobregat said the issuance of the SO 4 is needed to reduce prices to acceptable levels.  —KBK, GMA News