- GILBERT BAYORAN
The Sugar Regulatory Administration will recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to allow the 80,000 bags of sugar seized at the Batangas port last week to be sold to the public through the Kadiwa rolling stores, SRA administrator David Alba said Tuesday, Jan. 17.
The Bureau of Customs seized about 4,000 metric tons of refined sugar, worth more than P260 million, from MV Sunward that came from Thailand Jan. 13 following information that the vessel was carrying smuggled sugar.
In a statement, Alba thanked the BOC Enforcement Unit and Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz for their “vigilance that led to the seizure of the smuggled sugar”.
Alba said he will make representation to the President to have these sugar sold through Kadiwa, so the public “can enjoy refined sugar at a lower cost.”
The SRA administrator also warned traders, who are in cahoots with the smugglers, that “the full force of the law will go after you,” adding, that he has asked all government enforcement agencies to provide them with necessary information so they can go after sugar smugglers.
Meanwhile, the Office of the President said that Marcos Jr. wants to ensure a sufficient reserve of sugar in the country so the government will now maintain a two-month buffer stock.
“We will maintain from now on, in sugar, a two-month buffer stock…so that people will know hindi tayo magkaka-shortage dahil lagi tayong mayroon two-month na buffer stock which I will maintain,” Marcos told reporters in an interview en route to Davos, Switzerland over the weekend, where he is now attending the World Economic Forum.
Aside from ensuring a buffer stock, the chief executive also discussed his administration’s plans against smuggling and in improving the production side of agricultural products./GB
