Revamped SRA urged to protect farmers

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) should stick to its mandate to protect farmers, a House leader said Monday.

House committee on good government and public accountability chairperson Florida Robes of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan made the call in light of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointment of David John Thaddeus P. Alba as acting administrator of the SRA as well as Pablo Luis S. Azcona and Ma. Mitzi V. Mangwag as SRA Board Members as a result of the fallout over stalled implementation of importing 300,000 metric tons of sugar which is Sugar Order 4 (SO 4).

"The new appointees to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board should protect sugar planters and focus on modernizing the industry. What we have learned so far was the lack of consultation with sugar farmers and other stakeholders as well as the lack of transparency in dealing with the sugar importation," Robes said in a statement.

Robes' panel jointly with the House food and agriculture committee has conducted inquiry on the stalled implementation of SO 4, an importation signed by then-Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on behalf of President Marcos, only for the Palace to later disown and call illegal.

Sebastian has since then said he might have misread the intention of the President, who also serves as Agriculture chief, when it comes to importing rice. 

Sebastian, however, said he only signed SO 4 because the need for additional sugar supply was urgent, and that he was authorized to sign such a document based on a July 15 memo issued by Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.

Aside from Sebastian, former SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica also resigned from his post as a result of SO 4. 

In addition, Robes said that the congressional inquiry on the SO 4 fiasco is not yet over.

"The joint committee would dig deeper into the controversy which would include links of some officials to lobby groups and unscrupulous traders, hoarding and sugar importation utilizing recycled permits," Robes said.

Robes noted that the committee  wants to know why there is the lack of foresight among SRA officials in dealing with sugar production.

"I was told that in Tarlac and Pampanga, two major sugar producers in Luzon, small planters have already stopped planting sugarcane owing to the lack of government intervention, and have resorted to planting other crops," she said.

"It is sad to say that major agricultural areas have also been converted into industrial, commercial and even residential, gated communities despite the fact that these lands sit on and near irrigation canals," she added.

The joint House panel investigating the botched sugar importation under SO4 will resume its probe on Thursday, September 1. — RSJ, GMA News