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 

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