THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee yesterday said its first hearing on the latest sugar importation mess, originally scheduled today, has been postponed.
In an advisory, the committee said the hearing was deferred because “several important resource persons” are not available as they are on “official foreign trips.”
The committee did not identify the resource persons.
The hearing was based on Senate Resolution No. 497, filed by Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, which urged the said committee to conduct an inquiry on reports about the entry of sugar shipments in the country ahead of Sugar Order No. 6.
The resolution also asked the panel to investigate the possible “abuse, patronage, and cartelization” of the local sugar industry.
Hontiveros has questioned the arrival of the 440,000 metric tons of sugar from Thailand on February 9 before Sugar Order No. 6 was issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration on February 15.
She said Section 14 of Sugar Order No. 6 states that “any natural or juridical person that imports sugar but is not an eligible importer or does so without the approved sugar allocation granted by SRA shall be considered as engaged in sugar smuggling and will be prosecuted under RA 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.”
She also hit Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban for personally picking three importers — All Asian Counter Trade Inc., Suden Philippines Inc., and Edison Lee Marketing Corp..
Panganiban earlier said he acted on the instructions of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Last year, the SBRC also conducted a hearing on the controversial issuance of Sugar Order No. 4 which would have allowed the government to import 300,000 MT of sugar, which Malacañang said was illegal since it did not have the approval and signature of President Marcos.
As a result, the panel recommended that administrative and criminal charges be filed against all those involved, including former DA Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, former SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, and former SRA board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Valderrrama Jr.
