PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he terminated Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Anna Rosario Paner due to alleged irregular hiring of consultants.
Reports earlier said that Paner resigned from her post as SRA head.
Duterte, in a speech Monday at the convention of public lawyers in Manila Hotel, said he will not tolerate graft and corruption.
“Wala talaga akong patawad diyan,” he added.
The President assailed Paner for hiring three consultants in the Sugar Board earning P200,000 every month.
He asked why there is a need to hire three consultants. “Tapos ang bayad, P200,000 a month. G*ga ka ba? (Then the pay is P200,000 every month. Are you that stupid?)”
He said he’d like to review the hiring of consultants, which should be limited to one or two.
“Mahigpit ako diyan. Magkamali ka, wala akong pasensya diyan. (I’m strict in that aspect. If you make a mistake, I have no tolerance in that),” he added.
Paner, a former managing director and chief executive officer of Victorias Milling Company, was appointed by Duterte last year. She succeeded Ma. Regina Martin, who is from Negros Occidental.
Duterte said, “Let me remind the secretaries, the directors, ‘wag ninyong gawin ‘yan, na bigyan ang consultant ng P200,000 every month. Naloko ka ba? Magkano lang ang sweldo ko? (don’t follow that, to give the consultant P200,000 every month. Are you crazy? How much is my salary?)”
He reiterated his call to the public officials not to get involve in corruption. “That will be my injunction to everybody,” he said.
“Kaya kayo mga director (to all the directors), don’t give me that sh*t of paying somebody. Wala kayong (you have no) political burden, you’re not elected. Andiyan kayo (you’re there) because of the appointment by the appointing authority. Erase that notion of pleasing people close to you,” Duterte said.
The Chief Executive said that he will stop corruption, adding that “in three years, there will be a slowdown in corruption.”
Earlier, Duterte said he would ask the Congress to abolish the two agencies – the Road Board and SRA – due to alleged corruption.
On May 28, 1986, the SRA was created through Executive Order 18 to promote the growth and development of the sugar industry through greater participation of the private sector and to improve the working conditions of the laborers.
Sugar industry leaders in Negros Occidental said they will respect the decision of Duterte on SRA.
However, they pointed out that the proposed abolition of SRA will have an effect on the sugar industry, adding that over five million people are directly and indirectly dependent on the sugar industry from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Negros Occidental produces about 60 percent of the country’s sugar output.
In a related development, Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez said yesterday that Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol has advised the President Duterte not to abolish the SRA.
Benitez said he has talked to Pinol during the budget hearing and Piñol told him he sent a letter to the President lobbying to retain the SRA.
“Most likely the SRA won’t be abolished. The President would only like to spare the institution from alleged corruption especially about the alleged consultants having huge allowances,” the Negrense lawmaker said.
Benitez also said that most likely Sugar Board member Hermenegildo Serafica will be the next SRA administrator while former Negros Occidental Board Member Emilio Yulo III will be named to the SRA Board. (with reports from Teresa D. Ellera)