Ipinaliwanag ng Department of Agriculture (DA) na bilang pagtalima lamang sa direktiba ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., upang tugunan ang inflation sa bansa, ang ginawa nitong pag-aangkat ng asukal.
Pahayag ito ni DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, kasunod ng mga kuwestiyon kaugnay sa dumating na asukal sa bansa, bago pa mailabas ang Sugar Order no. 6.
Sa press briefing sa MalacaΓ±ang, nilinaw ng opisyal ng DA na una nang nagbaba ng memo si Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, na mayroong petsang January 13, 2023.
Base aniya sa kaniyang interpretasyon, go signal na ito para sa sugar importation ng bansa.
“In response to the directive of the President to address inflation and create a buffer stock and given that sugar is one of the most component of most commodities that drives the consistently high inflation rate, I acted with haste and interpreted the memorandum issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary as an approval to proceed to the importation.” pahayag ni Usec Panganiban.
Dahil dito, agad aniya niyang ipinag-utos sa tatlong accredited companies ang pag-aangkat ng asukal.
“With the urgency of the situation, I instructed three capable and accredited companies to proceed with the importation of sugar provided that they agree to reduce the prices of sugar, sell the commodity in a price that is commercially acceptable in the market, and that they will shoulder the cost of the…I hope this will verify things that are coming out of the papers quite recently.” ani Usec Panganiban.
Paglilinaw rin ng opisyal, alam ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. ang pagdating ng mga inangkat na asukal sa bansa, noong Pebrero 9.
“Yes, he was aware already sugar arrived on February 9; he was properly informed that sugar has already arrived.” saad ni Usec Panganiban. | ulat ni Racquel Bayan
