Too Much Sugar
David John Thaddeus Alba, the outgoing Administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), broke his month-long silence to claim that his resignation was due to illness, not accusations of sugar smuggling by Senator Risa Hontiveros. However, Hontiveros maintains that Alba has not signed the clearance for 5,000 metric tons of imported sugar, which arrived before the SRA's Sugar Order No. 6 was published. She praised Alba's courage for refusing pressure from the Department of Agriculture and Malacañang. Despite being relatively unknown before his appointment by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Hontiveros' sources claim that Alba opposed using the SRA for smuggling transactions of importers favored by the palace. Alba submitted his resignation shortly after Hontiveros revealed that the SRA was ordered to release the shipment by All Asian Countertrade Inc. When Malacañang did not act on his resignation, Alba announced it during the SRA Board meeting last Monday. Presiden...