BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and JED MACAPAGAL
MALACAÑANG has cleared officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) who have been accused of allegedly illegally issuing a sugar importation order without the approval of President Marcos Jr.
Former DA senior undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, former SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica and former SRA board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. quit their posts last year after they were charged with grave misconduct, gross dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the services in relation to the issuance of Sugar Order No. 4.
Sugar Order No. 4 allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar last year.
In a 10-page resolution dated December 29, 2022, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin found no basis to hold the four officials liable for misrepresentation and deceit. However, Bersamin admonished them to be “more prudent and circumspect in the performance of their duties.”
“The intent to deceive or misrepresent is absent sans any proof that respondents concealed the issuance of the subject order to the President. On the contrary, the attendant circumstances indicate respondents’ intention to apprise the President as to the preparation of and approval of SO (Sugar Order) Number 4,” Bersamin said in the decision.
“Respondents thought they were authorized because of miscommunication. Apparently, the root cause of the miscommunication is the memorandum from the Office of the Executive Secretary dated 15 July 2022,” he added.
Bersamin’s decision stemmed from the recommendation of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs issued on November 21, 2022.
Bersamin said former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez signed the memorandum authorizing Sebastian to sign contracts, memorandum of agreement, and other administrative issuances.
“In the instant case, SO (Sugar Order) Number 4 was prepared as a directive by the President to come up with an importation plan, the draft of which was sent to then ES Rodriguez. Having raised no objection therefore, respondents could have assumed its approval,” he said, adding that the order was done in good faith.
A motu proprio investigation was conducted by Malacañang after the President denied that he authorized the importation of 300,000 metric tons of refined sugar in August 2022.
Sebastian said he was “delighted” with the outcome of the investigation and said this would allow everyone to “move forward.”
“The resolution of the administrative charges against us will enable us to move forward from a traumatic and challenging experience,” Sebastian said in a statement, as he acknowledged Bersamin’s admonition to be “more prudent and circumspect.”
Since he is a career executive service officer, Sebastian can be reappointed to or rehired by the DA.
When sought for comment, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the possibility of Sebastian’s comeback will be discussed not only by the agency but also by the Office of the President.
For his part, Beltran said the development signals the “triumph of truth.”
“I have always said from the very start that I am innocent of the charges against me. I faithfully performed my duties as a public servant in accordance with my oath of office. I did not betray public trust,” Beltran said.
‘OBJECTIVE’
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III lauded Malacañang’s decision: “We are in agreement. Good that the OP (Office of the President) doesn’t mind being on the same side as the senate minority. Good, too, that the OP is being ‘really objective’ in this case.”
Pimentel said the Palace’s decision gives the four officials a chance to rebuild their images, which were damaged after they were blamed and charged for the illegal issuance of Sugar Order No. 4.
“I am glad for the four affected personalities. This development will at least give them and their families a chance to repair their image and reputation,” he said.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee conducted a motu propio investigation on the sugar importation mess last year and recommended that Sebastian, Serafica, Beltran and Valderama be held administratively and criminally liable.
However, the two-member Senate minority bloc composed of Pimentel and Sen. Risa Hontiveros came out with their “minority report” and said it was “unfair” to charge the four since they supposedly apparently acted in good faith.
They said the recommended charges were without factual and legal basis and said these were “mere surmise or conjecture” as there was no evidence which would point to who benefited or stood to benefit from the issuance of the order.
The Senate minority bloc also rejected the recommendation of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that the four be charged with smuggling as “it is doubtful if any import permit has already been issued” in connection with the order.
“We believe the (Blue Ribbon) committee report fell short of making sense of this fiasco,” the minority bloc said.
“Aside from the fact that there was no evidence of an intention to conceal the execution of SO No. 4 from the President, the sworn affidavits and the testimonies of the four key persons made during the public hearings are consistent in their assertion that they only did their job and what they believed were required of them at that given time,” the minority bloc said.
The minority bloc also said that the report of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee “failed or purposedly refrained to discuss the part which ES (Executive Secretary Vic) Rodriguez played in the unfortunate debacle.”
They said Rodriguez was insinuating that there was intent on behalf of the SRA board members to hide the execution of SO No. 4 from Marcos, but the testimonies during the hearings and sworn affidavits submitted established that all documents, including the planning and drafting of the sugar importation order and recommendations, were communicated to the OP through the Office of the Executive Secretary, but Rodriguez, who has direct link to the President due to his position, “purposedly did not answer.”
“There would not have been any miscommunication has the Executive Secretary simply replied that the SRA Board should give the President more time to study the draft SO No. 4 and to hold in abeyance the planned referendum pending advise or instruction from the Office of the President,” they added.
The minority bloc said Rodriguez is “not entirely blameless” in SO No. 4 but opted not to recommend the filing of any charges, saying “let this be on their conscience.”
Sen. Francis Tolentino, chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon panel, said the clearance given by the OP to the four will not affect the 97-page committee report which was adopted unanimously by the senators.
He said an internal motu propio administrative investigation report made by the Executive is different from the one made by the Senate panel since the dismissal of an administrative case does not necessarily prevent the filing of criminal charges.
“The internal OP investigation, the Senate investigation, and any Ombudsman investigation are entirely independent proceedings. Neither would the result in any terminate or conclude the other(s) and criminal liability is only extinguished under Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code, which does not include dismissal of an administrative case,” Tolentino said. — With Raymond Africa
