DA defers implementation of ₧150/kilo SRP for onions
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has postponed the implementation of the suggested retail price (SRP) for red and white onions, a DA official said.
The DA’S SRP for red onion is P150 per kilo and P140 per kilo for white onion.
DA Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez said that Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban did not sign the draft order on the SRP for onions.
“Actually, it was announced that we will be adopting SRP, but it was not signed by Senior Undersecretary Panganiban and according to him, when we discussed this matter, he decided to put on hold the signing,” Estoperez said.
The SRP was supposed to take effect on May 22, after a consensus reached during a meeting with various stakeholders on May 19 attended by DA officials, onion farmers, farmers groups, wholesalers, traders and retailers.
“He is not convinced with the cost structure set for the SRP for now. We are coordinating also with the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] right now on what we can do but we will continue monitoring and inspecting the cold storages of the onions,” Estoperez added.
Moreover, he admitted that Panganiban took into consideration the zero compliance with the previous SRP imposed on the commodity.
“Last February, the SRP did not work out, we don’t want to repeat this plus the fact there are some things that we have to address first, particularly the supply,” Estoperez said.
In February, the agency also imposed a P125 per kilo SRP on imported onions and failed to get cooperation from traders and retailers.
“We fear that we are not prepared for that [SRP]. It is more difficult to implement. We should be prepared on all strategies before implementing the SRP,” Estoperez added.
Earlier, the DA said it would set the SRP this week as it conducts inspections in cold storage facilities.
DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said this is the department’s strategy to protect consumers.
“If not tomorrow, hopefully by Wednesday. But the monitoring now is not only in the market but also in cold storages,” she said.
“Even the privately-owned [cold storages] shall be visited by the BPI [Bureau of Plant Industry], field inspectors of DA, alongside the PNP [Philippine National Police] and the CIDG [Criminal Investigation and Detection Group] to see the prices of onions…” Evangelista added.
Evangelista said some traders have agreed to set a cold storage wholesale price following their stakeholders’ meeting.