Marcos, Rodriguez did not object to sugar importation proposal - ex-SRA chief

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez did not raise any objection to the proposal to import sugar when the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) raised the idea, resigned SRA chief Hermenegildo Serafica said Tuesday.

Serafica made the statement as senators continued their investigation into the failed attempt to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar due to a lack of authority from the President.

The former SRA chief said during the hearing that he recalled making a suggestion during a meeting in Malacañang on August 1 to draft an order on another importation program, which will be approved by the SRA board as one of the last courses of action to address the challenges the sugar industry is facing.

Serafica narrated the details of the meeting after Senator Risa Hontiveros asked him what made him believe that Marcos and Rodriguez were supportive of another round of sugar importation.

With the instruction to draft an importation order, Hontiveros asked the resigned SRA chief if this meant that Marcos and Rodriguez were keen on approving the plan.

"So again po kung pinapa-draft kayo ng order, kung pinapa-submit kayo ng plan tungkol sa isang programang importasyon ibig sabihin posibleng aaprubahan ito, ibig sabihin sa meeting sa araw na yon paborable yung pagtingin, at least open, hindi opposed? Tama po ba yon?" Hontiveros asked during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.

(So, again, if you were asked to draft and submit an importation plan, does this mean this might be approved? Does this imply that throughout the meeting there was a favorable view on imports, that they were at least open to it and not opposed to it? Is this correct?)

Serafica replied: "You're correct, your honor."

The senator asked Serafica to clarify if at that time both Marcos and Rodriguez were open to importing sugar, to which the former SRA chief responded: "I didn't hear any objection, your honor, at that point."

GMA News Online has reached out to the Palace and Rodriguez for comment but has yet to receive any as of posting time.

Serafica said no volume of sugar was discussed on August 1, but the importation plan was reiterated on August 4 and they already had an estimated volume of sugar to be brought into the country following a consultation with industry stakeholders on July 29.

During the consultation with the stakeholders, Serafica said they presented the facts of the situation and the prevailing prices in the market.

The SRA also asked the stakeholders to submit their recommendations.

From July 29 to August 3, stakeholders stated they had no objection to the importation plan and almost everyone had recommended importing 300,000 metric tons, Serafica said.

"The SRA, your honor, has complete data on the facts of our average demand for the last three crop years as far as raw sugar is concerned and as far as refined sugar is concerned. So, they realized, upon seeing all of these, that they recommended almost the same 300,000 metric tons,” he said.

Hontiveros said that only Delmax Trading recommended a slightly lower quantity of 250,000 metric tons.

On August 9, the SRA board issued Sugar Order 4, authorizing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, which the Palace branded as “illegal” as it was signed without the knowledge and expressed approval of Marcos.

"[T]his fact would validate yung sinabi niyong near unanimous kaya nahihiwagan talaga ako what happened on the sidelines," Hontiveros said.

(This fact would validate what you’ve said as a near unanimous view. That is why I am puzzled as to what happened on the sidelines.)

"Why the subterfuge? Nalaman ba talaga sa website lang o sinabi personally na why send signals na pabor sa importasyon, hindi nag-object tapos babawiin pala despite the fact of this near unanimity among the stakeholders based doon sa sinasabi ni Mr. Serafica?" she asked.

(Why the subterfuge? Did they learn about it through the website or were they informed personally? Why send signals favoring importation? There was no objection and yet the order was recalled despite the fact of this near unanimity among the stakeholders based on what Mr. Serafica said.)

August 23 hearing

During the first hearing on the sugar importation mess on August 23, Rodriguez said they learned during an August 10 meeting in Malacañang that the SRA, through Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, passed a resolution approving the import order without submitting the import plan—the precursor to any sugar order—and without the knowledge of Marcos, who is the concurrent Agriculture Secretary.

The executive secretary said he confronted Sebastian over the alleged unauthorized issuance of the sugar order.

"I confronted Usec. Leo Sebastian and asked him why he did such a thing behind the president's back, without the president's knowledge and in an unfair and dishonorable way," Rodriguez told the committee.

Prior to the approval of SO4, Rodriguez said there were several meetings that were conducted regarding sugar, rice, and fertilizer.

At a meeting on August 4, Rodriguez said he had asked for an importation plan and a draft importation order. 

"I specifically requested that in the event there’s really a need for the government to import, to resort to another round of sugar importation, I asked for the import plan," Rodriguez said.

"I also asked who will be accredited, and an answer to our query if the PITC (Philippine International Trading Corporation) may import on behalf of industrial and home consumption sugars, and finally, if we may be given a draft sugar order for the proposed 300,000 metric tons of new round of importation," he added.

Rodriguez said they received a draft sugar order from Serafica and, later, a recommendation to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar from Sebastian.

On August 7 and 8, Rodriguez said Sebastian sent him a text message asking if Marcos had any instructions regarding sugar and fertilizer.

But the Palace official said he "purposely did not respond because these are the matters that are still on the table of the Acting Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.”

'Misled'

At the same hearing, Hontiveros asked SRA Deputy Administrator for Regulations Guillermo Tejida III if he knew someone who "misleads" the President and Malacañang regarding the warehouses that were allegedly hoarding sugar supplies. 

Tejida said he could not answer the senator's question, but he mentioned that most of the "raided" warehouses were either covered by Sugar Order No. 3 or local and international traders. 

"I cannot categorically state but this could have been prevented if the SRA was alerted ahead of time of these clearances because, as I can notice based on the August 25, 2022 letter of the BOC addressed to the acting administrator, Mr. (David John Thaddeus) Alba, most of those that were raided or inspected either belong to participants of SO3 or are also registered international and local traders," he said.

"But these are all, of course, subject to verification because at SRA we do not conclude that 'there was no hoarding here, there's no smuggling here' provided that our records will be consulted in this regard," he added.

Tejida mentioned that the SRA was "not privy" to the inspections of the Bureau of Customs "until after the raid had been conducted."

He also told the Senate panel that the BOC does not disclose who directs them to conduct the inspections. 

Hontiveros likewise posed the question to Philippine Sugar Millers Association, Inc. (PSMA) president Pablo Lobregat who said it was not only the Chief Executive who was being "misled" but also Malacañang.

"Malacañang is being misled and this was with reference to the raids that have been going on," Lobregat said.

Lobregat then mentioned an article that was published in a local newspaper after he attended a congressional inquiry at the House of Representatives, quoting United Sugar Producers Federation Manuel Lamata, who allegedly was seeking "raids" of mills in Bukidnon as the inspections in Luzon were "just the tip of the iceberg." 

"One week later...Bukidnon was raided and they showed these pictures of 446,000 bags of sugar, which seems [like an] enormous amount of sugar, but what I can say is number one, this is all sugar produced in Bukidnon," Lobregat said.

He explained that Bukidnon has produced close to 3 million bags and the 440,000 bags found at the warehouse represent only 15% of their production. 

"So if you ask us, were we hoarding? Well, we're down to the last 15% and we will only start milling in November so this will only last us for about 45 days," Lobregat said.

In ending her interpellation, Hontiveros raised the possibility that "powerful forces are at play" in the sugar controversy that started with SO4.

"What is the ES hiding? What information doesn't he want the public to know? Also why all these raids or visits on bodegas tapos malalaman in the end, the import permits are in order and the mission is terminated," she said.

"Who is feeding the President or Malacañang wrong information? Is the Executive Secretary feeding the President wrong information? Is the President caught in the crosshairs of opposing camps? Hindi kaya usapin lang ito ng nag-aaway na mga kampo, Mr. Chair? (Isn't this an issue between warring camps?)" she asked.

Asked to react to this development, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said they would wait for the results of the Senate investigation. 

"Hihintayin po natin 'yung resulta ng imbestigasyon kung kaya't di po tayo magiissue ng konkretong komento o response doon sa mga nangyayari habang ongoing pa po 'yung investigation," she said at a news conference on Tuesday.

(We will wait for the result of the investigation. That's why we will not issue a concrete statement or response to the developments while the Senate probe is ongoing.)

Hontiveros, meanwhile, reiterated that it is Rodriguez who should protect the President from any competing interests so that Marcos can make policy decisions "unfettered by political considerations." 

"With some groups wanting to change the leadership of SRA or limit the number of importers to a select few, hindi ba trabaho ng ES na protektahan ang Pangulo (Isn't the ES' job to protect the President)? Hindi ba dapat gatekeepers sila of these competing interests so that the President makes policy decisions unfettered by political considerations?" she said.

(Aren't they supposed to be gatekeepers of these competing interests so that the President makes policy decisions unfettered by political considerations?) 

"Kaya kailangan po talagang makarating si ES sa ating pagdinig."

(That is why the ES should appear at our hearing.) 

Rodriguez skipped Tuesday's hearing due to a Cabinet meeting. —with Anna Felicia Bajo/VBL, GMA News