Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri emphasized that th real issue in the sugar importation fiasco are the farmers.
Zubiri underscored the need to protect the farmers as the Senate deliberates on the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s report on the alleged sugar order importation scandal.
During the plenary session last night, Sept. 20, Zubiri said the investigation was able to establish that any sugar importation is detrimental to the livelihood of over 100,000 farmers, one million beneficiaries, including farm workers and about five million people.
“We have to put it in proper perspective. We, the Senate, have in the past investigated things of lesser action. Here is a situation, wherein over-eager members of the SRA (Sugar Regulatory Administration) immediately wanted to go for importation when there was clearly no instruction from the President, usurping his authority by signing on his behalf,” Zubiri said.
The Senate chief reiterated his stand to let end users like Coca- Cola, Pepsi Cola, and Zesto import sugar if they were unable to source locally, instead of letting SRA look for the importers.
Senator Francis ‘’Tol’’ Tolentino, committee chairman, squared off with Senator Risa Hontiiveros of the Senate minority bloc on their differing points of view on the committee report.
During the period of interpellation at the Senate session hall, Tolentino said he answered point by point the questions raised by minority group ‘’who wanted to clear SRA officials for their roles on the issuance of Sugar Order No. 4, which was issued without the authority of the President.’’
While presiding over the plenary session, Zubiri revealed that he has a picture showing SRA officials with sugar traders after the signing of Sugar Order No. 4 which allows the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
When asked by Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa if he could see the picture, Zubiri said he would only show it to him in private.
Tolentino reiterated that the former SRA officials who were recommended to be investigated by the proper authorities would have their chance to defend themselves from the charges at the proper forum.
These former officials are Undersecretary Leocadio S. Sebastian, Hermenegildo R. Serafica, lawyer Roland B. Beltran, and Gerardo J. Valderrama, Jr
“Meron pa rin hong batas na dapat sundin (We have laws to follow). Kung lahat tayo’y maawa at patatawarin na lang natin lahat, tanggalin na yung mga padlocks sa piitan kung ka-aawaan natin lahat (If we want to be forgiving, we might as well as throw away the padlocks in our prisons). Kailangan po yung dapat parusahan, parusahan (They should be punished, punished),’’ Tolentino stressed.