Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday, January 6 welcomed the Office of the President’s (OP) decision to clear a former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary and three former board members of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on the controversial issuance of Sugar Order No. 4.
“I am gratified that justice and fairness prevailed in the sugar importation fiasco. I had no doubt that the truth would come out, as it always does,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Hontiveros said that in the counter report submitted by the Senate Minority Bloc, she and Senate minority leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel maintained that the accusations against former Agriculture undersecretary Leocadio S. Sebastian, former SRA board members Hermenigildo Serafica, Rolan Beltran and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. were baseless and unjust.
Hontiveros noted these officials were “only doing their job as public servants.”
“Clearly, their acts bore badges of good faith that warranted their absolution from any liability,” she said.
But even if they were cleared by Malacanang, Hontiveros said it is imperative to know whether the government will listen to their policy recommendations on sugar importation.
“Even if they were acquitted, the next and most important question is whether their policy recommendation will be listened to — to increase and follow the country's sugar reserves,” Hontiveros said.
“Because in the end, it is necessary to address the still high price of sugar and at the same time take care of the interests of the consumers,” she said.
Following the release of the OP report, Sen. Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said the report will not affect the Upper Chamber’s findings and recommendation on the sugar importation fiasco.
Tolentino said the internal investigation conducted by the Office of the President, is independent of the the Senate’s proceedings.
The SO No. 4 would have paved the way for the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar into the country. Malacanang, however, disowned the order, saying it was released without President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s authority.