MALACAÑANG on Wed-nesday denied that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. approved the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to address the local supply shortage of the sweetener.
In a brief statement, Press Secretary Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles said Marcos, who is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, did not sign any order for the importation.
“The President rejected the proposal to import an additional 300,000 MT of sugar. He is the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board and denied this in no uncertain terms,” Angeles said.
As of press time, Angeles has yet to disclose why Marcos rejected the proposed importation.
The Palace official made the statement after an order allowing for the importation was posted on the web site of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Wednesday afternoon.
In that document, Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian signed on behalf of Marcos, the concurrent agriculture secretary.
The other signatories were SRA Board Vice Chairman Hermenegildo R. Serafica, SRA Miller’s Representative Roland B. Beltran, and SRA Planter’s Representative Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr.
Following Angeles’s statement on the matter, the document was taken down from the SRA web site.
Stakeholders have been pushing for the importation, citing a record low local sugar production which can no longer keep up with local demand.
The supply shortage led to the price of the refined sugar to soar to as high as P90.85 per kilogram in supermarkets and P93 per kilogram in wet markers as of last July 29. The SRA board is chaired by President Marcos Jr.
Executive Secretary Victor D. Rodriguez issued a memorandum last July 15 that authorized Undersecretary Sebastian “to sit as ex-officio chairman or member of all duly constituted committees, councils, boards, or bodies where the Secretary of the DA is a member.”
SO 4 was approved by the SRA board on August 9 and was released by the SRA records section on August 10. The SRA also published the SO 4 on its web site on August 10. Likewise, the document was sent to and received by the UP Law Center Office of the National Administrative Register on August 10.
SO 4 stipulated that it would take effect after three days from filing with the Office of the National Administrative Registrer.
However, the SRA took down the copy of SO 4 in its web site on August 10 evening after Malacañang denied that Marcos approved the importation program.
Under SO 4, the government allowed the importation of 150,000 MT of sugar for industrial users and another 150,000 MT for producers and traders. The document stipulated that the imported raw sugar for consumption must arrive no later than October 15, 2022 while raw sugar for tolling into refined sugar must arrive no later than November 30.
“Imported refined sugar must arrive no later than November 30, 2022,” the document read.
The BusinessMirror broke the story last week about the government’s plan to import an additional 300,000 MT of sugar to plug the shortfall in supply and temper rising prices as local production fell to its lowest level in more than two decades.
The country’s sugar production in crop year 2021-2022 may settle at 1.8 million MT, its lowest level in 22 years, documents and data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed.
Latest SRA price monitoring report showed that the average price of sugar in Metro Manila supermarkets as of August 5 was at a record high of P93.01 per kilogram. Refined sugar sold in Metro Manila public markets averaged much higher at P95 per kilogram.
SRA price monitoring reports showed that the government continues to record refined sugar prices in supermarkets as high as P115 per kilogram. Refined sugar prices in certain Metro Manila public markets have already reached P100 per kilogram.
With Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas