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SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday reacted to the Vera Files
article accusing him and his family of benefiting from the Biofuels
Law, stressing that while his family descended from sugar planters,
they never benefited from this law, as the article released implied.
The Zubiris’ land was voluntarily surrendered
to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) after it was
enacted in 1988, while their remaining lands were leased to the
Department of Labor and Employment for banana production.
In a statement, the senator pointed out that the
Biofuels Law was not approved till 2006, and challenged the
articles’ authors to investigate and visit their property.
“[That we benefited from the law] is a blatant
lie. Instead of being congratulated for being the first to comply
with the CARP law, we are now being maligned by the Vera article and
those behind their agenda. Even the insinuation that my father has
some control over Busco or Bukidnon Sugar-milling Company is
completely false,” said Zubiri.
No provision in the Biofuels Act can violate
CARP, the senator explained, as the former does not guarantee land
converson and CARP exemptions.
On the contrary, Zubiri said, the Biofuels Law
will even help CARP beneficiaries who can now enjoy higher value and
price for their sugar crops for use in producing biofuel.
If implemented properly, he added, the Biofuels
Law would allow Filipinos to produce 10 percent of the ethanol
requirement of the law, without competing with feedstock, as the
country has an excess of sugarcane.
Zubiri pointed out that the mountains of Davao
to Cagayan de Oro are waiting for crops to be planted in them.
“If by next month, gas prices will be at
P50/liter, and by next year, it will reach P70/liter and you curse
the high heavens, please don’t blame the government, but the
fault-finders,” he said.
-- Angelique P. Manalad
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