DA exec charged with graft over sugar imports

Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban was charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday in connection with the alleged illegal importation of sugar.

The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries' Council and the Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list accused Panganiban of usurpation of official functions and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list Secretary General Elijah San Fernando (left) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Council Representative Rolan De La Cruz show a copy of the verified complaint filed against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, June 5, 2023. PHOTOS BY MIKE DE JUAN

Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list Secretary General Elijah San Fernando (left) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Council Representative Rolan De La Cruz show a copy of the verified complaint filed against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, June 5, 2023. PHOTOS BY MIKE DE JUAN

Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list Secretary General Elijah San Fernando (left) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Council Representative Rolan De La Cruz show a copy of the verified complaint filed against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, June 5, 2023. PHOTOS BY MIKE DE JUAN

Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list Secretary General Elijah San Fernando (left) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Council Representative Rolan De La Cruz show a copy of the verified complaint filed against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, June 5, 2023. PHOTOS BY MIKE DE JUAN

Alternatiba ng Masa Party-list Secretary General Elijah San Fernando (left) and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Council Representative Rolan De La Cruz show a copy of the verified complaint filed against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban at the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, June 5, 2023. PHOTOS BY MIKE DE JUAN

The complainants claimed that “Panganiban used his position as the Senior Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture to direct three importers including All Asian Countertrade Inc. to import sugar without the necessary Sugar Order (SO) as early as January 2023.”

The groups alleged that the official also undermined and usurped the functions of the Sugar Regulatory Board.

They said that only the SRA has the power to issue an SO.

The complainants said that “there was no Sugar Order to warrant the importation of All Asian Countertrade, Inc. of sugar that arrived in the Batangas Port on Feb. 9, 2023.”