Restraining order issued vs SRA’s importation order

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) Director GJ Sarrosa said Tuesday that a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was served to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in Manila suspending the implementation of Sugar Order Number 3.

SO No. 3 was issued by SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica allowing the importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar which are expected to arrive in March 2022.

Sarrosa announced the TRO issuance in the presscon held at the UNIFED office with UNIFED officials Gary Acuna, Paul Azcona, and Andre Corro.

Acuna said the motion for the TRO filed Wednesday last week, Feb 9, 2022, in a Sagay City court is good for 20 days.

The TRO was issued by Judge Reginald Fuentebella of Regional Trial Court Branch 73 in Sagay City.

In issuing the TRO, Fuentebella said he found the grounds cited by the motion “well taken” thus, “the same is hereby granted”.

The hearing for the preliminary injunction is set on Feb. 24, 2022.

Sarrosa said that “we led the filing of the TRO upon the urging of our planter-members who expected that such an order (SRO 3) will lead to depressed sugar prices, a fact that already happened during last week’s bidding, just two days after SO3 was released.”

He further said that “since last year, we have been appealing to SRA, Department of Agriculture and other government agencies to help us with the high price of farm inputs, whether through a price freeze or subsidies but nothing came through.”

“SRA pushed us to the wall, thus the filing of this TRO,” Sarrosa said.

Sarrosa also said that they are thankful to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who “highlighted the price drop and called this development an agricultural crisis.”

In a statement read by Azcona, UNIFED president Manuel Lamata called on President Rodrigo Duterte to fire Serafica, whom he said has not acted on their request to come up with measures against the rice in prices of farm inputs.

Azcona also accused Serafica of betraying the sugar industry and is using Typhoon Odette as an excuse for the importation.

Azcona said the importation is ill-timed because the sugar production is currently at its peak.