Zubiri clears Vic Rodriguez in sugar importation order mess
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri does not believe that Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez is involved in the attempt to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar into the country, which Malacañang ultimately declared illegal for lacking approval by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself.
"I absolutely do not believe that he is part of this plan of coming out with an illegal order to import sugar," Zubiri said Wednesday in a news conference.
"He was the one who took it to the president and told the president about this particular plan that they already signed an import order without the president’s approval."
Zubiri said former Sugar Regulatory Administration administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, who admitted that he drafted the controversial Sugar Order No. 4 to import sugar into the country without consulting the SRA management including its deputy administrators and has since resigned, "should answer all these charges against him."
"I hope this is a lesson learned by these government officials that there needs to be proper consultation of the stakeholders and that there are proper rules that have to be followed," the Senate president said.
Rodriguez' role in the botched importation plan was touched upon during the first hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the matter, as Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked why the assailed sugar order was not brought up with Marcos by the executive secretary.
Former Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian signed the assailed sugar order for Marcos, who currently handles the agriculture portfolio, as he believed he had the power to do so. He said a memo from Rodriguez authorized him to sit as ex-officio chairperson or member of all bodies where the president is a member by virtue of being agriculture secretary.
But Rodriguez said Sebastian had only assumed that he had the power to sign issuances on behalf of the president, to which the former agriculture official responded that he texted the executive secretary whom he claimed never replied.
Even here, Zubiri said Rodriguez is faultless as he argued that the executive secretary did not have the expertise to answer Sebastian’s query.
"You have to remember that Executive Secretary Rodriguez is a lawyer. He’s not a farmer or a member of the stakeholders group. If you were in that position, you don’t know about the situation, it is better to investigate if there is really a need to import more. And that's what he did," Zubiri said partly in Filipino.
But Hontiveros is not yet done with Rodriguez, as she moved during the first hearing to invite him back to the Blue Ribbon panel for him to answer further questions, including on whether he actually had knowledge of the draft of SO No. 4.
"One big mess that ES Rodriguez needs to make of record is that he knew that there was a draft order being circulated and this is the draft order that supposedly received support from stakeholders of the sugar industry," the opposition senator said in Filipino in a virtual news briefing.
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