FINALLY, Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committee for the hearing on the sugar importation mess on Tuesday after the panel subpoenaed him to attend the inquiry.
Rodriguez arrived at the Senate shortly after 11 of the 17 members of the Senate panel, in an executive session, voted in favor of the subpoena. Three members voted against it while three abstained.
The Executive Secretary told the panel that when he learned about the subpoeana, he informed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about it, and he was directed to attend that day’s hearing.
He assured the senators that in initially informing them that he could not attend the hearing, there was “no intent to disrespect the Senate.”
PBBM defended
The executive secretary on Tuesday defended President and Agriculture chief Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during the Senate’s hearing on the controversial Sugar Order no. 4.
“Wala hong binabanggit na amount in terms of quantity si kagalang-galang na Pangulo Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. pagdating doon sa metric tons na dapat i-angkat,” Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez said during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the sugar importation fiasco.
[Translation: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. did not mention any amount in terms of quantity when it comes to how much metric tons should be imported.]
Lawmakers are currently looking into what Malacañang called as “illegal” signing of the sugar order that allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar.
During the hearing, Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Hermenegildo Serafica if there were other matters discussed during his Aug. 4 meeting with the president.
Aside from the reiteration to submit an import plan, Serafica claimed the chief executive mentioned a volume of 600,000 MT. He told the president this may be too much since milling is about to start, the former SRA official noted.
