By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

With senate hearings on high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) set to commence on April 10, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri urged Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to attend.
“I expect the secretary to be there during the hearing so he can inform the five to six senators who will be there on the position of the departments of agriculture and trade and industry,” he said yesterday.
In an earlier Facebook post, Piñol called Zubiri “misinformed” on the issue.
When pressed for reaction, the senator said he does not want to pick a fight with the cabinet member, but believes Piñol has “mellowed down” from his original stance.
“I am giving him the benefit of the doubt,” he added.
Zubiri also credited Sugar Regulatory Administrator Anna Rosario Paner for not backing down when Sugar Order No. 3, which regulated the importation of HFCS, was called into question.
“Paner has more balls than any officials in the Department of Agriculture,” the senator asserted./WDJ