Pimentel says Rodriguez can attend online blue ribbon committee hearings

ES RODRIGUEZ ATTENDS BLUE RIBBON PROBE ON SUGAR FIASCO: Executive Sec. Victor Rodriguez faces members of the Blue Ribbon Committee Tuesday, August 23, 2022, to shed light on the events that transpired in connection with the controversial Sugar Order (SO) No. 4 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration authorizing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.  (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Saturday said Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez can attend hearings of the Senate blue ribbon committee online if he has a busy schedule.

Pimentel made the remark as Rodriguez failed to attend the continuation of the blue ribbon committee hearing into the sugar importation issue on Tuesday.

Earlier, Senator Francis Tolentino, chair of the blue ribbon committee, said Rodriguez told him he cannot attend future hearings because of Cabinet meetings and because of the state visits of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Marcos is scheduled to visit Indonesia and Singapore and attend the 77th United Nations General Assembly within the month of September.

“Tayo ang mag-solve ha. Sabi ng tao, ‘busy ako, sasama ako sa mga trips abroad,’ Ok so nasa abroad ka. Kailangan ka namin sa hearing, o anong compromise natin? Hindi ba mag-online sya? Eh di tapos. Tapos ang problema hindi ba,” Pimentel said over DWIZ.

(Let’s solve this. He said “I am busy, I need to go on trips abroad. Ok so you are abroad, but we need you in the hearings, so what is our compromise? You could do it online, right? It is done. Problem solved isn’t it?)

Pimentel said the committee will clarify what compromises they can make to avoid having to subpoena  Rodriguez.

“Di naman kami natatakot mag isyu ng subpoena kung kailangan i-issue, pero kung mahanapan ng compromise payag naman kami. Pero kung pati compromise namin, reasonable naman yung online appearance, ginawa ng maraming resource persons yan, ginagawa naman yan eh, so that’s a logical compromise,” he said when pressed if they would discuss the compromise with him to avoid the issuance of a subpoena.

(We are not afraid to issue a subpoena if we need to issue it. But our compromise is reasonable, the online appearance, most resource persons do that, so that’s a logical compromise.)

Rodriguez was present during the hearing on Tuesday, August 23, but he immediately left and could not entertain questions from the senators.

In his opening statement, however, the Executive Secretary admitted that in one of their meetings on sugar importation, he had requested, among others, a draft order on the proposed importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.

Sugar Order No. 4 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration authorized the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar. Malacañang later said Sugar Order No. 4 was illegal, saying it was not authorized by the President, who concurrently sits as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

/MUF