BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Labor groups in Negros Occidental said axed officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) should be reinstated after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. cleared them of any wrongdoing over controversial Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4).
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA), pointed out that the matter should have been discussed thoroughly first before former SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, former SRA board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, as well as former agriculture undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, were accused.
The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (Panayfed) also backed the four individuals.
According to both the NFSP and Panayfed, it was proven that there was no bad faith, malice, misconduct, or dishonesty in the issuance of SO4.
On Friday, Valderrama told Panay News that the dismissal of the charges against him and the others was “a vindication that he has always prayed for and believed in.”
Last year, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against the signatories of the controversial SO4.
SO4 would have mandated the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
The order was deemed “illegal” by Malacañang as it was not approved by Marcos.
Both Serafica and Beltran would later resign from their posts, with Beltran stating that his resignation was due to “health reasons”./PN
