A Regional Trial Court judge in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, has issued a warrant for the arrest of former Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica.
Judge Walter Zorilla, Himamaylan RTC Branch 55, found Serafica guilty of indirect contempt of court on Monday, September 26 for issuing a memorandum allowing the importation of sugar despite a writ of preliminary injunction issued by the court.
Serafica was ordered imprisoned for 15 days and to pay a fine of P30,000.
The judge on March 2, 2022, issued a writ of preliminary injunction directing the SRA, its agents and representatives or persons acting on its behalf to cease and desist from implementing the sugar importation program embodied under Sugar Order No 3, Series of 2021-2022.
On May 4, 2022, Serafica issued SRA Memorandum Circular No. 11, Series of 2021-2022, allowing the importation of 200,000 MT of sugar in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, except in Region 6, the judge said.
Serafica could not be reached for comment.*