Former SRA chief says she's paying for her anti-HFCS stand

Former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) administrator Anna Rosario Paner on Tuesday claimed she had a falling out with certain government officials for keep multinational companies from importing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

"I was determined to do something over the rampant importation of HFCS. I fought HFCS importation with everything I’ve got to the point of displeasing the Department of Agriculture—our mother agency—the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and the DOF (Department of Finance),” Paner said in a speech delivered at SRA's office in Bacolod City.

High fructose corn syrup is a cheaper alternative to sugar.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he fired Paner for supposedly hiring an "overpaid" consultant with a monthly pay of P200,000.

“I cannot describe to you the kind of pressure hurled at me to allow the importation of HFCS. But I took a hard position against HFCS, which I am obviously paying for now,” Paner said.

“But I do not regret what I did. Because have the unhampered importation of HFCS been allowed, the effects of last year’s importation would have been irreversible," she added.

The SRA issued Sugar Order No. 3 last March placing HFCS shipments within its regulatory purview in response to the clamor by sugar industry stakeholders for the government to intervene and stall massive importations of HFCS.

Paner did not name any government official in her speech.

But in a separate interview with reporters on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol denied that the department backed multinational beverage firms in the HFCS controversy.

"We will never be pressured by any corporation. I will not allow na ma-pressure ng any group," Pinol. 

Piñol intends to propose slight adjustments in Republic Act 10659 or the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) of 2015 to protect the commodity from domestic price fluctuations.

"While the SIDA is there, it has not addressed the vulnerability of the sugar industry in the fluctuation of sugar prices," Piñol said.

The SIDA was crafted to boost and enhance the sugar industry with a P1-billion fund and encourage small-scale sugarcane farmers to grow and expand. — Ted Cordero/ VDS, GMA News