News Roundup 30 August 2022
Aug 30, 2022 • 4 min Read
Hontiveros: Rodriguez’s no-show at Senate sugar import mess probe ‘regrettable’ | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed dismay on Tuesday over Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez’s failure to attend the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon’s probe on the alleged sugar importation fiasco. As soon as the committee resumed its investigation, Hontiveros asked about Rodriguez’s absence when she made a motion to invite him again to the hearing. But panel chairman Senator Francis Tolentino informed the body that the Executive Secretary could not attend the ongoing hearing because of a Cabinet meeting also scheduled at 9:00 a.m. this Tuesday. Tolentino said the committee will issue another invitation to Rodriguez to attend the next hearing. “Just for the record Mr. Chair, regrettable na yung Cabinet meeting na dahilan kung bakit pagkatapos ng presentation nila noong unang hearing ay umalis na agad si Executive Secretary, hindi na natin natanong ng ating mga tanong. Ngayon yun ulit ang dahilan kung bakit wala sila rito,” Hontiveros said. “I’m really, really holding on to the assurance of the chair that he will be required to attend the next hearing…” she said. During last week’s hearing, Hontiveros raised several questions about Rodriguez’s role in the issuance of the controversial Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4) supposedly authorizing the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar. She asked in particular about a memorandum signed by the Executive Secretary that supposedly granted resigned Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian authority to sign the said SO4. While he was present during last week’s proceeding, Rodriguez immediately left and could not entertain questions from senators. In his opening statement, however, the Executive Secretary admitted that in one of their meetings on sugar importation, he had requested, among others, a draft order on the proposed importation of 300,000MT of sugar. Malacañang later dubbed SO4 as illegal, saying it was not authorized by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who concurrently sits as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
Hontiveros sees ‘many powerful forces at play’ in 300,000 MT sugar import mess | INQUIRER.NET –Senator Risa Hontiveros believes that “many powerful forces are at play” in the 300,000 metric tons sugar importation mess, as doubts remain unsettled. “In my last few seconds, just for the record, Mr. Chair, would just like to manifest that what is clear to me so far is that many things are not clear, and it also seems that many powerful forces are at play,” she said during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Tuesday. “What is the ES (Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez) hiding? What information doesn’t he want the public to know?… Who is feeding the President or Malacañang wrong information? Is the Executive Secretary feeding the President wrong information? Is the President caught in the crosshairs of opposing camps?” she added. Hontiveros insisted that Rodriguez should attend the hearings to respond to the senators’ inquiries. Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez was a no-show during the second hearing on the issue due to a Cabinet meeting. “With some groups wanting to change the leadership of SRA (Sugar Regulatory Administration) or limit the number of importers to a select few, hindi ba trabaho ng ES na protektahan ang Pangulo?” the senator said. (Is it not the job of the ES to protect the President?) “Hindi ba dapat gatekeepers sila of these competing interests so that the President make policy decisions unfettered by political considerations? Kaya kailangan po talagang makarating si ES sa ating pagdinig, Mr. Chair,” she continued. (Shouldn’t they be gatekeepers of these competing interests so that the President makes policy decisions unfettered by political considerations? That is why ES should attend hearings.)
SC issues stop order on No Contact Apprehension Policy | PHILSTAR.COM – The Supreme Court has issued an order temporarily stopping the implementation of the No Contact Apprehension Policy and set the two petitions questioning the program’s legality for oral debates. The SC Public Information Office said in a statement that the court in Tuesday’s en banc session issued a temporary restraining order, “effective immediately and until further orders from the Court, enjoining all respondents from implementation of the [NCAP].” “The court also said that any apprehensions through NCAP programs and ordinances related thereto shall be prohibited until further orders from the Court,” it added. The Land Transportation Office and all parties are also enjoined from giving out motorist information to all local government units, cities and municipalities enforcing NCAP program and ordinances, the SC also said. The high court set the petitions filed by transport groups and a lawyer for oral arguments on January 24, 2023.
