Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez on Tuesday, September 6 defended President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. over the issue of the latter raising the possibility of importing excessive metric tons (MT) of sugar into the country.
This comes after resigned Sugar Regulatory Administration(SRA) chief Hermenegildo Serafica claimed that Marcos, who also sits as Agriculture Secretary, brought the idea of importing 600,000 MT of sugar into the country.
"Wala pong katotohanan na nanggaling kay Pangulong Marcos yung 600,000 metric tons [It is not true that the 600,000 metric tons came from President Marcos.]," Rodriguez said during the Senate blue ribbon hearing.
"The name of the President is unnecessarily being dragged by the former SRA administrator and as the executive secretary I will not allow that," he continued.
Rodriguez further explained that the Chief Executive did not mention any amount in terms of quantity when it comes to how many metric tons should be imported.
However, former SRA board member Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., who was also present in the meeting, backed Serafica's statement and confirmed that the suggestion came from Marcos.
"Actually, in that online meeting with the President, former [SRA] board member [Aurelio] Valderrama was also in that online meeting, and the President mentioned a volume of 600,000 metric tons, and I said, 'Mr. President, that may be too much,'" Serafica recalled.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri abhorred that the President's name was dragged into the controversy.
"The President will not come up with a figure at the top of his mind. You better clarify. You are very close to being cited for contempt," Zubiri warned Serafica.
Rodriguez, who skipped two consecutive hearings, eventually attended the hearing on the controversial sugar importation issue after the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee voted to issue a subpoena against him.
