Alba firm: I resigned for health reasons
Alba #Alba
BACOLOD CITY: Resigned Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief David John Thaddeus Alba maintained that he resigned for health reasons as he denied involvement in sugar smuggling.
In a statement on Saturday, Alba said that had he been in better health, “I would gladly continue with the responsibility entrusted to me by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.”
Alba thanked the President “for the opportunity to serve under his administration,” adding that he was also “thankful for his kind consideration and understanding in accepting my resignation due to health considerations.”
Alba said he wished the next administrator “the best” and hoped that the “gains and programs we have achieved for the sugar industry will continue long into the future.”
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that Alba’s worsening health condition prompted him to step down from his post.
The PCO said this after Agriculture Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez, deputy spokesman, confirmed Alba’s resignation on Friday, March 24.
The SRA is under the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The PCO said Alba’s resignation will be effective on April 15.
Pablo Luis Azcona, SRA board member and representative of sugar planters, had denied that Alba was a “sacrificial lamb” in the sugar mess.
“No, he was not the sacrificial lamb. Administrator Alba decided to resign based on his health. He cannot control his blood pressure. To this day, administrator Alba has not been mentioned or implicated in any of the accusations thrown about in the media,” Azcona said.
Alba’s resignation comes amid allegations of state-sponsored sugar smuggling in the DA.
Alba was the general manager of the planters’ groups based in Negros Occidental, the Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra, and the La Carlota Mill District Multipurpose Cooperative before his appointment to the SRA.
‘Speak the truth’
Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros urged newly resigned Alba to “come out and speak his truth” on the alleged preferential treatment given to sugar importers and the issue of smuggling plaguing the country.
“We urge former administrator Alba to come out and speak his truth […] Baka kung hindi (If not), you will be left holding the bag,” Hontiveros said in a statement issued Saturday.
“The circumstances of Alba’s decision suggest that he might have witnessed how the SRA is only used as a rubber stamp to legitimize the preferential treatment given to all Asians and the other two importers,” Hontiveros said.
Despite the pressure from the DA, Hontiveros said Alba did not sign the sugar release order for the smuggled sugar at the Batangas port.