THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has approved the motion to subpoena Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez after failing to attend, for the second time, the committee’s hearing into the sugar importation mess on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.
The motion was filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros to make Rodriguez appear in the next hearings.
The panel voted 11-3-3 in an executive session through a secret balloting executive session.
On Tuesday, August 30, Rodriguez did not attend the committee’s second hearing on the controversy due to a Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.
Panel chairman Senator Francis Tolentino said Rodriguez sent a letter dated August 30 seeking to excuse himself from the probe due to preparations for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s state visits in Indonesia and Singapore within the week.
“The contents would probably can be summarized of his non-attendance because he will be attending to some events that would require his presence, specifically the preparations for the state visits, among others,” Tolentino said.
But Hontiveros insisted that Rodriguez should be present in the investigation even only virtually.
“Puwede naman silang humarap sa pagtatanong ng blue ribbon via Zoom... This will be the third time that the Executive Secretary will not be making himself available to directly answer questions from the blue ribbon,” she said.
“If this is the case, Mister Chair and with the indulgence of the chair, may I therefore proceed to formally move to subpoena the Executive Secretary, an extraordinary step simply to secure ‘yung presensya nila or at least yung pagharap nila live via Zoom as Blue Ribbon to once and for all, after three attempts on the part of the honorable committee to invite his presence, I so move Mr. Chair,” she added.
Moments later, Rodriguez arrived at the Senate building to attend the hearing.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Marcos called him early this morning saying that he has instructed Rodriguez to appear before the committee.
Rodriguez apologized to the committee, saying he has no intention to disrespect the Senate or its members.
The probe is centered on the Sugar Order 4 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Board for the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sweetener amid the looming scarcity of supply in the country.
Malacañang said the issuance of the order was “illegal” as it was not approved by the President nor he authorized anyone to sign it on his behalf.
Marcos, the concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture, later ordered the reorganization of the Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA), which he also chaired.
Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, SRA Hermenegildo Serafica and SRB member lawyer Roland Beltran, who were all signatories of the order, resigned from their posts.
In a house probe last week, Sebastian said he signed the order based on the memorandum issued by Rodriguez in July 15 that indicates that he will “sit as ex officio chairman or member of all duly constituted administration, committees, councils, boards, bodies where the Secretary of Agriculture is a member.”
But Rodriguez said he is not immediately aware that the SRA passed a resolution without submitting the import plan to the Office of the President or informing the President about it.
He said he even confronted Sebastian, Serafica and Beltran for making such a move “behind the President’s back.”
Lawmakers, however, were not able to ask questions to Rodriguez as he immediately excused himself from the hearing.
Marcos earlier said that while the country is still in need to import sugar, it is not as much as 300,000 MT as indicated in the said order.
He said the Philippines will import 150,000 MT of sugar.
Malacañang said the sugar shortage in the country is “artificial,” citing the thousands of sacks of sweetener recovered by the authorities during the conduct of warehouse inspection.
The scarcity of sugar in the country, which is due to the damage by Typhoon Odette to sugarcane root crops in 2021, resulted in price increase to over P90 per kilo. (SunStar Philippines)