THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) yesterday seized tons of suspected smuggled sugar and rice from a warehouse in Caloocan City during a surprise inspection, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said yesterday.
In a statement, the OPS said the BOC-led team, armed with a letter of authority that allows it to conduct visitorial powers, “forcibly opened” the warehouse at No. 306 Kabatuhan St., Deparo Road in Caloocan City after the owners and caretaker refused to cooperate.
Discovered were “hundreds of bags of smuggled rice and sugar,” OPS said
“Customs personnel learned that the warehouse containing the contraband agricultural products is owned by Melissa Chua and Benito Chua. It was not immediately known how the two Chuas are related,” the OPS said.
Aside from the “tons of smuggled rice and sugar,” BOC agents also seized machines which were being used to repack the imported rice and sugar “to make it appear that these were locally procured by the warehouse owners.”
The Marcos government has been inspecting warehouses since last week, following intelligence reports that smuggled and/or hoarded sugar and other agricultural products were being kept in warehouses. Last week operations were conducted in Pampanga, Zambales, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Batangas and Davao.
Malacañang on Saturday night said an apparent sugar shortage is artificial because the supposed shortage was due to hoarding and not lack of supply.
The OPS also said President Marcos Jr. Is committed to ensure the supply of affordable sugar and eventually ensure that companies that are dependent on the product continue with their operations.
The President also welcomed the some stores and traders who heeded his call to lower sugar price to P70 a kilo from P90 to P110.
“The concern is the supply right now. I’ll make sure that there is sufficient supply in the country so that you can operate at full capacity,” the OPS aid quoting Marcos.
Marcos also said his administration is also eyeing direct importation by food manufacturers as part of emergency measures to address industry concerns. The direct importation, however, needs the approval of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) which the President chairs as concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
Marcos has expressed concern that firms that are dependent on sugar will be forced to cut down their operations and eventually reduce their employees due to sugar supply issues.
The President last week met with the owners of Robinsons Supermarket, SM Supermarket and Puregold Supermarket and urged them to lower their prices. They committed to unload 1 million kilos of sugar in their respective supermarkets, which are being sold at P70 a kilo since yesterday.
SRA OFFICIALS
The President yesterday administered the oath to new SRA officials led by acting administrator David John Thaddeus Alba, and board members Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag.
“We thank the new officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration who vowed to fulfil their mandate faithfully for the good of the people. We are confident that we can overcome any challenges we face in the sugar industry with the new SRA officials),” he said in Filipino.
Marcos recently revamped the SRA following a botched importation of 300,000 metric tons sugar importation.
Three officials behind the importation order, Sugar Order No. 4, which Marcos has rejected, have resigned.
At the House, resigned agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian yesterday admitted to lawmakers that he never even tried to ask for the President’s clearance before signing Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4).
In a joint hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability and on agriculture, Sebastian was repeatedly asked if he even bothered to ask for the President’s permission before signing such an important resolution.
“Kayo po ba nagsabi na pipirmahan ko ‘to, Mr, President? (Did you ever ask, ‘Mr. President, I’m signing this,’” Bulacan Rep. Florida Robes, chair of the good government panel, asked to which Sebastian said: “No (I did not).”
Sebastian, who sat as SRA chair, insisted that he signed with Marcos’ authority based on the data presented to him by the agency. Last week, he told the joint panel that based on the data from SRA, the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and even the United States Department of Agriculture, the average annual supply shortage of sugar is a little more than 530,000 MT between 2015 to 2019, comprising an average annual deficit of 203,000 MT of raw sugar and 332,000 MT for refined sugar.
Malacañang earlier called SO4 “illegal,” saying the President did not delegate his power to approve the resolution to Sebastian, especially since he was against the move to import 300,000 MT of sugar.
IMPORT PLAN
The other supposed signatories in the document were resigned SRA board vice chairperson Hermenegildo Serafica, member Roland Beltran representing the millers’ sector, and Aurelio Gerardo Valderama Jr. representing the planters’ sector. Beltran and Serafica have resigned.
Serafica, on the questioning of Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., denied an August 4 newspaper article quoting him as saying that he approved the sugar importation plan to prevent a sugar shortage.
“I categorically deny that as administrator … I do not like to preempt decision of President,” Serafica said, adding that he met with the President on August 1 and was told to submit an importation plan to him, which Serafica did on August 5.
Serafica said the need to import was discussed with the President as an offshoot of a consultative meeting with the board last July and on August 5, he and his staff drew up the importation plan which was sent to Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.
“We waited but we did not get an answer,” Serafica said, explaining that this was when a referendum was called among board members prior to the signing of SO No. 4.
While Beltran earlier said he deemed himself resigned as of July 1 as his appointment as a co-terminus official had ended, Serafica claimed that the importation plan was approved by all board members through a referendum which he said was undertaken through email exchanges.
Sebastian, however, said Memorandum Circular No. 3 clarified that Beltran and the other board members were in a holdover capacity since the co-terminus rule did not apply to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and in effect, he (Beltran) was still a member as of July 1 which was the basis for his participation.
Serafica told the joint panel that either the chair or him is authorized to call for a consultative meeting but insisted that he did not “call the shots” and just made “my own manifestation.”
“When deciding on a critical resolution, who calls the shots? The administrator or the chairman?” Robes asked, to which Serafica replied, “I did not call the shots. I just made my own manifestation as administrator.”
This prompted Robes to say: “So you did not call for a meeting, therefore the resolution is illegal.”
Negros Occidental Rep. Emilio Yulo then read the SRA’s manual of corporate governance, which provides that only the chairman of the board can preside over all meetings and call for meetings “to enable the board to perform duties and responsibilities.” — With Wendell Vigilia
