President Ferdinand Marcos has finally filled the vacancies at the top levels of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) a week after the resignations of officials involved in the issuance of an illegal importation order.
The appointments appear to be inspired by his recent meeting with bilyonaryos, which included JG Summit’s Lance Gokongwei.
Malacañang announced Saturday, August 20 that David John Thaddeus Alba will serve as acting SRA administrator, while Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag will sit on the sugar board as representatives of sugar planters and millers, respectively.
Alba replaces embattled ex-SRA chief Hermenegildo Serafica, who signed in favor of importing 300,000 metric tons of raw and refined sugar, while Mangwag takes the seat vacated by Atty. Roland Beltran also over the controversial importation plan.
Alba and Azcona from Negros Occidental, the country’s sugar capital. Alba is general manager of the Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra, a major industry group, while Azcona is chairman of the mill development district council for Southern Negros Development Corporation or Sonedco, a subsidiary of Universal Robina Corp. (URC).
Mangwag, meanwhile, is listed on the SRA website as the resident manager of URC’s CARSUMCO refinery in Cagayan in 2019-2020.