Hontiveros: Gov’t should raise PH sugar reserves

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Friday welcomed Malacañang’s decision to exonerate officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) behind the botched importation of 300,000 metric tons of refined sugar without President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s approval.

“I am gratified that justice and fairness prevailed in the sugar importation fiasco. I had no doubt that the truth would come out, as it always does,” Hontiveros said in a statement. Hontiveros pointed out that she and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III also opined that the DA and SRA executives, among them suspended Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, were merely doing their jobs.

—Marlon Ramos

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