BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – The lawyer of Sugar Board member and Negros planter Aurelio Valderrama has defended the move of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. disapproval of Sugar Order No. 4 that allows the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar.
Lawyer Rafael Ocampo said it is part of the president’s authority to reject the sugar order as head of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and as secretary of the agriculture department.
“The President may not have agreed to his actions but that per se does not mean that it was illegal,” Ocampo said.
The rejection of the proposal to import 300,000 metric tons of raw and refined sugar is composed of the delegation of authority since BBM is the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, he explained.
He also added that secretaries and undersecretaries act as the alter ego of the head of state and they have the “power to act and to issue administrative orders”.
The controversial order was created amid the rising prices of sugar in the country.
