Sagay RTC stops sugar importation

A Sagay City court has issued an injunction preventing the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) from pursuing its plan to import 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar for industrial users.

In a six-page decision dated Feb. 24, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 73 in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, ordered the SRA to maintain the “status quo” until the court takes further action.

Issued by Executive Judge Reginald Fuentebella, the ruling said that the group of sugar producers had “shown to the satisfaction” of the Court that stopping the importation was necessary “to prevent grave and irreparable damage” of Sugar Order No. 3 authorizing the sugar importation.

The SRA said it has yet to receive a copy of the decision but SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said the agency would endorse the matter to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel for appropriate action.

Meanwhile, the United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed), which furnished a copy of the ruling to the media on Monday night, described this development as a “victory.”

“This decision just affirms that the industry was right and SRA was wrong,” said Manuel Lamata, president of Unifed. INQ