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Malacañang has pushed back to October 31 the arrival date of sugar imported during the Duterte presidency amid a logistics delay and concerns from industry stakeholders
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A Sugar Regulatory Administration memo released on October 19 amends Sugar Order No.3 issued by the previous administration that allowed the importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar
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SRA says sugar traders and industrial users requested the arrival date extension
The Marcos administration is extending the arrival date of sugar imported during the Duterte presidency to October 31 amid a logistics delay and concerns from industry stakeholders.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration released on October 19 a memorandum amending Sugar Order No. 3, issued during the previous administration, which cleared the importation of 200,000 metric tons of standard grade and premium grade refined sugar for industrial users.
The extension was prompted by requests from industrial users and international sugar traders who were concerned about “vessel delays” and “a lack of availability in container vans being experienced not just regionally but also globally,” the SRA said.
Other stakeholders also requested to pass their refined sugar allocation on to others in the import order as their sugar imports have arrived but are supposed to be used only in later months, the SRA said.
There are also some industrial users that have used up their stock and requested for more allocations in the current import order, the SRA said.
The SRA’s import arrival extension memo also stipulated industrial users could now transfer or sell parts of their import orders to other industrial users.
The Duterte-era sugar importation batch comes two months after a botched sugar import order in August that had led to the resignation of Department of Agriculture undersecretary and presidential chief of staff, Leocadio Sebastian.
As agriculture undersecretary and alter ego of President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the SRA, Sebastian signed Sugar Order No. 4 allowing the importation of an additional 300,000 MT of sugar during an SRA board meeting held without Marcos’ knowledge. He ordered an investigation and cancelled SO No.4.
The faux pas that was blamed on a “breakdown in communication” between Marcos’ former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez and some SRA officials later cost them their positions.
The “illegal” sugar order was issued as the country was facing a shortage of the commodity that drove up sugar prices, hitting the people’s pockets while threatening the operations of confectioners and soft drink producers.
On August 17, however, Malacañang confirmed a 150,000 MT sugar import proposal as the administration came to terms with the sugar shortage in households and food industries.
The National Economic and Development Authority said in August that sugar prices had risen at a pace of 5% since January this year.
