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BY RANIE AZUE
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Friday. September 22, 2017
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BACOLOD City – A labor group expressed concern over claims that influential groups behind the importation of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) lobbied for the sacking of Anna Rosario Paner as Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief.
If the allegations were true, the sugar industry is in grave danger, according to Winnie Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Association.
Sancho said they also fear the appointment of a new SRA administrator will put Sugar Order No. 3 in jeopardy.
Sugar Order No. 3 strictly regulates the importation of the highly criticized HFCS, an artificial sweetener that stakeholders claim is undermining locally produced sugar, being more preferred by the beverage industry.
The order had become a bone of contention, too, between the sugar industry, the SRA and Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol.
Sugar Board member Hermenegildo Serafica may reportedly take over as SRA chief.
Sancho cautioned about Serafica’s reported closeness to Piñol.
Piñol allegedly tried to water down Sugar Order No. 3, which is why sugar industry stakeholders remain “hostile” to him, Sancho claimed.
The possibility of pressure to fire Paner is thus not farfetched, the labor leader said.
Earlier President Rodrigo Duterte said he fired Paner over the latter’s alleged hiring of consultants who he said earn as much as P200,000 a month.
The President appointed Paner the SRA chief in October last year to replace Ma. Regina Martin, who is from Negros Occidental.
“We need somebody from Negros who is familiar with the predicament of the sugar industry to head the SRA,” said Sancho./PN
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