Gov’t mulls importing 8,000 MT of white onions
THE g overnment i s “considering” importing 8,000 metric tons of white onions this year to stabilize prices, according to Department of Agriculture ( DA)- Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Glenn Panganiban.
The agency estimated that the country has 12,843 metric tons of white onions as of April, which will last until September.
Stocks of red onions meanwhile were estimated to be at 98,394 metric tons, which may be sufficient to cover local demand until November, BPI said.
“Ang ating tinitingnan is to have a buffer of two months,” Panganiban told the House Committee on Agriculture and Food yesterday.
Based on DA’s monitoring, prices of onions range from P160 to P200 per kilo, according to DA assistant secretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista.
Apart from “looking at” onion importation, the DA said there are also talks of imposing a standard retail price for onions to prevent a spike in onion prices.
“Pinag-uusapan pa ang SRP sa sibuyas. Pero mino- monitor pa namin ang presyo. We are looking at importation to stabilize and bring down the cost of sibuyas… Dapat nasa P150 per kilo,” Evangelista said.
Onion cartel?
During the hearing, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo urged law enforcement agencies to look into the possibility of a “cartel” in the onion industry.
Quimbo believes the spike in onion prices last December to January was due to this alleged cartel.
“At the core of this, is an onion cartel theory, which is really about the Philippine Vieva Group of Companies Inc., a fully vertically integrated corporation, an SEC registered corporation established in 2013. Its incorporators are corporations that are involved in local trading, importation, cold storage, warehousing. It’s majority owner who appears to be Lilia or Leah Cruz. Sa madaling salita, hawak sa leeg ng Phil Vieva ang buong supply chain mula umpisa, which is farming, hanggang dulo, which is retail,” Quimbo said.
Cruz, meanwhile, denied having investments in onion importation.
“Wala po akong investment sa mga importer, that’s why sinabi ko na wala akong involvement doon sa industry. But sa farming po, nagpapatanim kami ng sibuyas, sila ang direktang nagbebenta,” Cruz told lawmakers.
The spike in the prices of onions was one of the reasons for inflation hitting a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January this year.