FILE PHOTO Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez during the Senate hearing on the sugar importation controversy. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The search for truth on the alleged sugar importation fiasco will never stop with the resignation of Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, according to opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros.
While Rodriguez may have stepped down as Executive Secretary, he has opted to stay as a member of the Cabinet of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – but anywhere in the government he goes, he will find the truth staring him in the face, the senator assured the public.
“Hindi matatakasan ni Atty. Vic Rodriguez ang katotohanan, kahit saan pang posisyon ng gobyerno sya pumunta. Wag nyang gawing Trip to Jerusalem ang government service dahil lang tinutugis siya ng kanyang konsensya,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Tuesday.
(Atty. Rodriguez can’t escape the truth whichever way he goes in the government. He should not make government service like the game of Trip to Jerusalem just because his conscience is bothering him.)
The senator reminded Rodriguez of his obligations to the Senate blue ribbon committee, citing, in particular, the minutes of a meeting where the possible importation of the 600,00 metric tons of sugar was supposedly mentioned by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself.
“Kaya hindi matatapos sa pagbibitiw ni Atty. Rodriguez ang ating paninindigan na mabunyag ang katotohanan dito sa sugar importation fiasco,” she then said.
(Our pursuit for truth on this sugar importation fiasco will not end with the resignation of Atty. Rodriguez)
“We vow to continue our efforts to find the truth despite all the misdirection, misinformation, and other efforts to bury this issue,” she added.
The committee’s investigation stemmed from the alleged unauthorized and illegal issuance of Sugar Order No. 4, which would have allowed the importation of 300, 000 metric tons of sugar in the country.
In one of the committee hearings, resigned Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica claimed that Marcos himself mentioned importing 600,000 MT in one of their meetings.
Rodriguez denied the allegation during the same hearing.
For Hontiveros, questions still need to be answered even after the committee has already concluded its probe.
“If this is all just a big conspiracy to create an artificial shortage para makapag-import at makapag-tongpats, magsasara ba ang Coke ng planta? Mapapababa ba ang presyo ng asukal sa pagpaparusa sa mga career officials in the sugar industry?” she asked.
Hontiveros then renewed her call for the President to finally appoint an Agriculture Secretary who would focus on addressing the crisis in the agricultural sector. Marcos concurrently sits as Agriculture Secretary.
“Let’s avoid future fiascos and disputes by keeping lines of accountability clear,” the senator pointed out.