SEC. GARAFIL: Magandang hapon, Malacañang Press Corps. Salamat sa pagdalo ngayong hapon sa ating press conference.
Inimbita natin ngayon si DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban upang bigyan tayo ng ilang sagot tungkol sa issue ng sugar importation. Secretary Panganiban…
DA SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Okay. Well, in response to the directive of the President to address inflation and create a buffer stock and given that sugar as one of the components of most commodities that drive 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 with the importation.
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 production – and that is what I did.
I hope that this will clarify things that are coming out of the papers quite recently.
SEC. GARAFIL: We’ll entertain questions from the group. Ms. Chona from Inquirer.
CHONA YU/RADIO INQUIRER: Sir, don’t you know that there is a SRA process?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Ah, no. But the directive of the Executive Secretary to me was a manifestation that that directive is already a sugar order.
CHONA YU/RADIO INQUIRER: Sir, can you name the three companies and why choose these three companies po?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Well, Mr. Escaler, Mr. Alvarado and Mr. Lee are the three companies that I have selected from a list that was given to me. And I consider them as the most capable importers that we have.
CHONA YU/RADIO INQUIRER: Sir, last na lang. Is the President aware of this issue po?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Yes. He was aware when the sugar arrived on February 9, he was properly informed that the sugar has already arrived.
SEC. GARAFIL: Okay. Thank you, Malacañang Press Corps. Evelyn, Pilipino Mirror…
EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Sir, follow up lang po sa question ni Chona. Nabanggit ninyo po most capable po iyong tatlo. So, ilan po iyong list ng mga napagpilian natin at saka first time po ba sila o since naging Agriculture official po kayo eh sila po talaga iyong parang mga suki or parang ganoon?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: They were given to me and there were three pages I think that I looked at and they were the most capable importers of sugar in the country.
EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: ‘Pag sinabi po, sir, na ‘most capable’ dumarating po ng—ano po iyong—kasi po ang capable, iyong ganitong araw, ganitong… Mayroon pong specific ano po ba kayo doon na…?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Well, the directive was for them to bring it on time; that the sugar in the country is being harvested that will be coming in February, March and April.
EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Sir, last question na lang po. Iyong sinabi ninyo po na kapag iyon pong inisyu ni ES, so parang iyon na po ‘yung order? Hindi na ho kailangang dumaan pa sa SRA? Ganoon ho ba talaga iyong—?
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: I consider it as a sugar order already… because it was a directive from the Executive Secretary.
EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: So, ano na po iyon… considered nang ano na po—hindi na ho kailangang dumaan pa sa—
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: I think you will be given a copy of the directive by the Secretary.
EVELYN QUIROZ/PILIPINO MIRROR: Okay. Thank you, sir.
LEI ALVIZ/GMA7: [Off mic] Sir, Lei Alviz po from GMA-7. May I ask a question?
SEC. GARAFIL: Someone from the ES will further clarify the issues. Okay, sir, thank you.
DA. SR. USEC. PANGANIBAN: Okay. Thank you very much.
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News and Information Bureau – Transcription Section
