UNIFED mulls contempt charge, arrest of SRA chief

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) threatened to file contempt charges and push for the arrest of Sugar Regulatory Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica if he signs Sugar Order No. 4 that will allow the importation of 350,000 metric tons (MT) of raw and refined sugar.

UNIFED President Manuel Lamata said Friday they have received a draft of SO No. 4 which is “similar and in a bigger volume than the previous order that caused the filing of our case against him and SRA last February.”

“The moment Administrator Serafica signs and makes that draft SO 4 as official, we will haul him in court again for contempt and seek his arrest for defying the ongoing case filed against him related to the suspended SO 3. I will personally bring sugar for Mr. Serafica’s coffee in his jail cell when that happens,” Lamata said.

In February, the Sagay City and Himamaylan City Regional Trial Courts issued separate preliminary injunctions against the importation of 200,000 MT of sugar under SO 3.

“This proposed SO 4 is a slap on the faces of the two regional trial courts here that issued rulings to halt any importation program pending a final resolution to the cases that has been deemed to cause damage to the sugar industry,” Lamata said.

Lamata added that the draft, issued last April 5, is “tantamount to a midnight deal that will obviously greatly benefit the industrial users, particularly the bottling companies.”

Of the proposed 350,000 metric tons of sugar imports, 250,000 metric tons will be refined sugar, 150,000 metric tons of which was specified as premium grade or bottlers’ grade refined sugar.

The 100,000 metric tons remaining will be raw sugar.

Lamata said that while they are not against any importation based on factual supply and demand data from the ground, “this proposed import program is clearly favoring a particular sector and that is what we are against at.”

Notwithstanding the pending cases in our courts, the draft proposal is a clear indication that Administrator Serafica will go to any lengths to defy court orders just to accommodate the bottling companies, Lamata added.

Earlier, Senator Imee Marcos, chair of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, also called out Agriculture Secretary William Dar to refrain from signing the draft SO 4.

Marcos described the agriculture state as “an epic disaster” and warned about approving any “midnight express deal” regarding the sugar importation.