President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has replaced all three board members of the Sugar Regulatory Administration who signed the “illegal” order to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar without his approval.
Mr. Marcos appointed David John Thaddeus Alba as SRA acting administrator, vice Hermenegildo Serafica who earlier resigned over the controversial Sugar Order No. 4.
The President also appointed Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag as board members.
Azcona replaced Aurelio Valderrama Jr.—the only one among the four signatories to SO No. 4 who did not resign—as representative of sugar planters while Mangwag replaced Roland Beltran, who resigned due to health reasons, as representative of sugar millers.
Alba, prior to his appointment, was the general manager of the planters’ groups based in Negros Occidental—the Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra and the La Carlota Mill District Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
Mr. Marcos, as concurrent Agriculture Secretary, is also the chairman of the SRA.
He has yet to name a replacement for his chief of staff at the DA, Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Leocadio Sebastian, who signed the unauthorized order on behalf of the President.
Mr. Marcos said he will leave the investigation into the unauthorized signing of the order to Congress.
“We are leaving the investigation to the House, the legislature and even the Senate. What I am focusing on is that our shortage of sugar will not last, especially for industrial consumers,” he said.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, however, said the Palace probe into the unauthorized signing of the resolution will still continue.
The Senate Ribbon Committee said it will begin hearings on the sugar importation fiasco on Tuesday.
In the House, Minority Leader and 4Ps part-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan also sought a congressional inquiry into Sugar Order No. 4.
Libanan filed House Resolution 259 urging the House committees on good government and on agriculture and food to conduct look into the order.