A SENATOR slammed the appointment of Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban as officer-in-charge of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), citing the need to hold him accountable for irregular sugar importations earlier this year.  

“For Malacañang and Panganiban, it appears that crime really does pay — it even rewards,” Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement on Thursday. 

“In any other government, Panganiban would already be suspended and the subject of multiple criminal and administrative investigations for his issuances which openly violate existing laws and enable the formation of a government sponsored sugar cartel in the country,” she said.  

Large shipments of sugar were brought in via the Port of Batangas earlier this year and were released on Mr. Panganiban’s authority. The arrival date of the shipments was not covered by a new or earlier SRA orders.    

Mr. Panganiban had defended that he acted based on a directive from the Office of the Executive Secretary citing the need to import sugar to help address the impact of rising food prices on inflation.  

The lawmaker called Mr. Panganiban’s designation to the SRA top post an “epitome of impunity.”  

“What sort of message do we hope to send here to our fellow government employees, to our farmers, to our consumers by rewarding corruption instead of punishing it?” she said.  

“If left unchecked, large-scale smuggling and outright corruption in the selection of importers will be just the beginning,” she said.  

The senator added that the SRA under Mr. Panganiban will “continue to deny requests by industries to procure their own sugar supplies and justify the high prices of sugar being forced on consumers and businesses alike.” — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz 

THE COMMISSION on Audit (CoA) flagged a Cavite industrial estate developer for failing to make progress on its abolition after a directive from the Office of the President last year, racking up expenses worth P28.64 million.  

In its 2022 report dated March 23, state auditors said the closure of First Cavite Industrial Estate, Inc. (FCIEI) “has not been started,” resulting in the “non-liquidation of assets, non-settlement of liabilities, and continued incurrence of expenses accumulating to P28.64 million.”  

The FCIEI was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1990 and began as a joint venture project of the National Development Company (NDC), Marubeni Corp., and Japan International Development Organization Ltf., a corporation established by KEIDANREN (Japan Business Federation).   

It was formed to develop the NDC’s property in Dasmariñas, Cavite in southern Luzon into an industrial estate and economic zone. It was able to sell all its designated lots to locators in 1995 but the complex was not completed.   

The FCIEI was ordered for abolition on June 23, 2022 through Memorandum Order No. 62 of the Office of the President.  

“Given that the intention of the FCIEI to undertake another development project did not materialize, the abolition of the company was recommended, and was approved in principle in 2015, with the condition that the FCIEI’s liabilities, particularly to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are settled,” the memorandum order is quoted in the audit report.  

CoA recommended that the FCIEI coordinate with the technical working group (TWG) created under the memorandum order “to fast track and immediately start with the legal processes covered by the abolition of a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC).”  

The TWG is composed of representatives from the NDC, PEZA, and the Governance Commission for GOCCs. 

FCIEI had assets worth P7.33 million in 2022, and unsettled notices of disallowances amounting to P220,933. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

STATE AUDITORS ordered the Mapandan Water District (MAWADI) in Pangasinan to settle its outstanding loan balance to a government agency as well as include a portion of its lot in its transfer certificates of title.  

In a report dated April 13, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said MAWADI “did not settle its outstanding loan balance with the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) of P24.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.”   

CoA recommended that the management pay all its loan obligations with the LWUA to “avoid legal actions against the District.” 

The state-owned MAWADI entered into a joint venture with private company PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. in 2019, with the aim of improving and expanding water and septage services in Mapandan’s 15 villages.   

PrimeWater imposed a water rate increase, which state auditors said did not go through public consultations and was “not supported with the computation of the recoverable and prudent costs, thus, prejudicial to the interest of the public.”   

CoA recommended that MAWADI advise PrimeWater “to immediately stop” implementing the higher rates pending review and approval by LWUA.  

CoA also said that “four parcels of lot of the District costing P3.76 million were not covered by Transfer Certificates of Title,” making the “absolute ownership and valuation of the properties not ascertained, posing risks of claims by other parties.”  

“The audit team has discussed the observations and recommendations with the management” on Feb. 1 “and that the comments incorporated in the report were appropriate,” CoA said.  

MAWADI’s assets amounted to P86.63 million in 2022 but has unsettled disallowances of P522,348.59. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz