President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has appointed three new members of the Sugar Regulatory Board (SRB) allowing it to resume issuing new orders.

Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez confirmed the appointment of David John Thaddeus Albas as the acting administrator of Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and vice chairperson of the Sugar Regulatory Board (SRB) Hermenegildo Serafica.

Also designated as new members of the SRB are Pablo Luis Azcona, who replaced Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr. as representative of sugar planters, and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag, who replaced Roland Beltran as representative of sugar millers.

Serafica, Beltran, and Valderama decided to resign after they signed Sugar Order No. 4, which allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar without the approval of Marcos, the chairman of the SRB.

Marcos earlier said he wants to hold off the importation of an additional 50,000 MT of sugar until October after the harvest season next month.

The SRA is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), which issues policies to ensure the country's sugar supply. It is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The SRB is the policy-making body of the SRA.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles earlier said the SRB must first be reorganized before it could issue new orders to import sugar.

The government is trying to stabilize the rising price of sugar, which ranges from P90 to P110 per kilogram, due to insufficient supply.

To address the supply issue, the government is implementing several measures to make sugar affordable by negotiating with traders, going after sugar hoarders, and the planned importation. DMS