NEGROS Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said yesterday, August 9, that he is working out for the revocation of the appointment of Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama as member of the Board of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) representing the planters.
Ferrer, who has been designated as the personal adviser of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for Western Visayas last week, said it is Valderrama himself who is provoking him to work out for the revocation of his appointment.
"They have to be thankful to the President that despite that he [Valderrama] has been attacking him [Marcos] during the campaign, he got the appointment which was hastily done,” he said, saying that it only shows that the President is a good person.
Ferrer also conformed that it is good that a Negrense got the appointment.
“It's good he was recommended for the position and accepted it despite that he uttered bad words against Marcos during the campaign," the vice governor stressed.
The appointment of Valderrama is only in an acting capacity, Ferrer explained, adding that he might be recommended by a different planter’s group.
Valderrama is the president of the Vicmico Planters Association Inc. and current director of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (Confed).
Valderrama was sworn into office by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Benitez at the New Government Center last week.
He has yet to issue a statement on the pronouncement of the vice governor.
For his, Negros Occidental Fifth District Rep. Emilio Yulo III said that he respects the appointment of Valderrama as the new member of the SRA Board.
Yulo, who was a former Board Member of the SRA, said the sugar industry "faces many and very complicated problems."
"We hope that he (Valderrama) can deliver amid all the challenges," Yulo said as he admitted that he has an idea as to who recommended Valderrama to the SRA.
The congressman said he "cannot surmise the reason in the delay of the appointment of a new head of the SRA. We don't know the inner workings of the bureaucracy."
Meanwhile, Ferrer also revealed that he recommended former Murcia Mayor Esteban "Sonny" Coscolluela and David Alba to any position at the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Coscolluela was the provincial campaign spokesperson of Marcos during the May 2022 elections while Alba is the general manager of the Asociación de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra Inc., the biggest independent sugar producers' group in the province.
Ferrer also expressed support for the planned importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
“The delivery would be done on staggered basis and it is appropriate because the milling is not yet on fu blown at this time", Ferrer said.
He said there is a shortage of sugar in the country and that market prices of refined sugar have already reached more than P100 per kilo.*