- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Aurelio Gerardo “Bodie” Valderrama Jr., the planters’ representative to the SRA Sugar Board, said Tuesday he did nothing wrong in signing the assailed Sugar Order 4 (SO4) on the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
Valderrama said in a press conference at the Negros Residences in Bacolod that he will not resign, and will wait for the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who appointed him. He said if he receives a call or order from Malacañang for him to vacate his post, then that’s the time that he will do so.
“When the appropriate solution/s are put in place and a fair investigation is concluded I, as a member of the Sugar Board, place myself at the disposal of the President, knowing I served with integrity, and hoping that the truth will prevail above all else, in the interest of our stakeholders,” he said.
Valderrama added he is saddened that the three other SO4 signatories have resigned; the latest was SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, whose resignation has been accepted by Malacañang, effective immediately.
Atty. Roland Beltran, the millers’ representative to the Sugar Board, and Agriculture chief of staff and Undersecretary for Operations Leocadio Sebastian, who signed SO4 on behalf of Marcos, also tendered their resignations, following the sugar importation mess.
Valderrama, who said he could very well be “the last man standing” following the controversy, stressed that the proposed sugar importation was based on SRA’s official data and supply/demand analysis, as well as the prevailing high market prices, which established a clear basis for additional imports”.
SO4, or the Second Sugar Import Program for Crop Year 2021-2022 dated Aug. 9, showed that including the volume of sugar imported through SO3, the SRA Regulation Department estimates that by Aug. 31, 2022, raw sugar balance will be around (negative) -35,231 metric tons and refined sugar balance will be around (negative) -20,748.65 metric tons, significantly lower than the 228,690 metric tons “B” raw sugar balance and 195,000 metric tons refined sugar balance from last crop year.
“In part because of tightening supply, prevailing wholesale prices of sugar, as of July 31, have gone up to P3,250 per LKg for raw and P4,400 per LKg for refined,” the SO4 said. Prevailing retail prices have reached about P100 per kilogram for raw and refined.
“SO4 is based on facts and proper consultations,” Valderrama said, adding that “this is supported by resolutions from industry stakeholders themselves, including those who now demand for our resignation”.
These resolutions include those from the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, the Philippine Association of Sugar Refiners Inc., the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters Inc., and the joint resolution of the Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers Association and the United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines Inc.
The groups submitted their respective recommendations on the sugar import plan, both for raw and refined – except for Luzonfed and Unifed that agreed to an importation of refined sugar only – after the SRA held a meeting on July 29 and asked for their inputs to address the situation of tightening supply and soaring prices.
“SO4 was done as directed. The resulting order is the sugar importation plan that SRA was directed to prepare in order to address the problem of low supply and high prices,” Valderrama insisted, adding he “was shocked when news came out that the Presidential spokesperson called the sugar order ‘illegal’, passed without the benefit of a formal meeting, and without the President’s authority”.
Atty. Rafael Ocampo Jr., legal counsel of Valderrama, said the order “is not illegal, it just was not approved. (The president) can reject resolutions done on his behalf, but it is not illegal”.
Valderrama said in view of the announced rejection of SO4 and the accusations thrown at the Sugar Board, he asked that a fast and fair investigation be conducted to establish culpability, if any, among those involved, and to clear the names of those who acted in faithful compliance with their given mandates.
Congress is set to conduct an investigation on the sugar importation mess./CGC
