Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday, March 1, that the memorandum by Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban clearing the release of ”smuggled” sugar, which entered the country without proper permits is the “smoking gun” proof that high-ranking officials are behind the country’s latest sugar import fiasco.
The senator issued the statement after Panganiban issued a memorandum dated February 27. The memorandum cleared for release imported sugar stocks consigned to All Asian Countertrade Inc. that entered the country with no proper permits and before a corresponding Sugar Order was issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), in violation of existing laws, Hontiveros said.
SRA Administrator David Alba, on February 27, issued a clearance for the release of the imported sugar.
This is to certify that the imported refined sugar from Thailand shipped by
K.S.L. Export Trading Co. and consigned to All Asian Countertrade with a total volume of 1,000 metric tons has been cleared as “C” or Reserve sugar, Alba said.
“We should not ignore this ‘smoking gun’ proof of government-sponsored sugar smuggling being coordinated at the highest levels of bureaucracy,” Hontiveros said in a press statement.
Panganiban’s memo, Hontiveros noted, explicitly included “the shipments to All Asian Countertrade Inc., which have arrived in the country” among the imported sugar to be released.
According to Hontiveros, this is a reference to the shipment of sugar in 260 20-foot containers which reportedly arrived at the port of Batangas February 9. The shipment, consigned to All Asian Countertrade Inc., lacked proper documentation.
“That’s the smoking gun…they were aware that shipments of sugar arrived in the country way before March 1, which is the earliest date the validly imported supply under Sugar Order No. 6 could reach our ports. Not only were they aware of those dubious shipments, they even wanted to clear them for release despite those shipments being obviously smuggled,” Hontiveros said.
Sugar Order No. 6 took effect on February 15, while the All-Asian sugar shipments arrived in the country by February 9. Since they had no proper permits, those shipments should be considered as the subject of large-scale agricultural smuggling,” she added.
All Asian Countertrade Inc., Hontiveros pointed out, was one of the three trading firms “handpicked” by Panganiban to import the country’s supply of sugar, as he admitted in a press conference on February 22.
Hontiveros, who earlier filed proposed Senate Resolution No. 497 calling for a probe on the controversy, said that the Senate should immediately investigate the incident and prevent the formation of a “government-backed cartel” which will hoard the supply of sugar and manipulate sugar prices in the country.*