Former Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian on Monday defended his decision to approve the order, tagged by the Palace as "illegal and unauthorized," to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar to the country.
During the House Committees briefing, Sebastian said that his decision to sign Sugar Order No. 4 was based on the data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
"I signed the documents based on the data presented to me by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). There is a clear indication of the rapidly diminishing supply of sugar. The current supply is projected to run out in August 2022 this month," he said.
"I cannot stand watching Filipinos suffer from high local prices of sugar that are hurting Filipino consumers. However, I immediately resigned when I knew the President disapproved my action," he added.
Sebastian resigned as DA Undersecretary through a letter addressed to Marcos dated Aug. 11 as shared by Press Secretary Cruz-Angeles wherein he apologized for signing Sugar order no. 4 on his behalf and said he takes accountability and responsibility for its consequences.
Prior to this, a document was uploaded in the website of SRA but was taken down eventually. It showed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved Sugar order no. 4 with signatories of Sebastian and SRA board members.
However, Malacanang said Marcos rejected the said proposal.
