Palace on Rodriguez’s no-show in Senate inquiry: He attended Cabinet meeting

MANILA, Philippines — Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez attended a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, which was why he could not participate in the Senate blue ribbon probe on the sugar importation mess, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said she assumes Rodriguez will issue an explanation for his absence from the inquiry.

“May Cabinet meeting po kami. [But, of course,] binibigyan natin ng napakataas na respeto ang isang coequal branch so I assume na mag-eexplain naman po si Executive Secretary,” she said in a Palace briefing.

(We had a Cabinet meeting. But, of course, we give high respect to a co-equal branch of the government, so I assume Rodriguez will issue an explanation.)

Senator Risa Hontiveros was disappointed that Rodriguez wasn’t present when the Senate blue ribbon continued its investigation into the alleged sugar importation fiasco.

She said it was “regrettable” that Rodriguez was not able to attend due to the Cabinet meeting since senators were not able to question him further in the last hearing because he immediately left.

READ: Hontiveros: Rodriguez’s no-show at Senate sugar import mess probe ‘regrettable’

Senate blue ribbon chairman Francis Tolentino said the committee would send Rodriguez another invitation to attend the next hearing.

During last week’s proceedings, Hontiveros raised several questions about Rodriguez’s role in issuing the controversial Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4), supposedly authorizing the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar.

She asked about a memorandum signed by the Executive Secretary that supposedly granted suspended Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian authority to sign the said SO4.

READ: Resignation not accepted yet but Agriculture exec under preventive suspension

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