THE Department of Agriculture (DA) which is headed doubly by President Bongbong Marcos as department secretary and president, has warned the public not to buy from online and physical sellers of smuggled onions, mostly the white variety, which have been found to contain bacteria and other substances which are potentially harmful to health.
DA deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez has advised consumers not to purchase onions being sold illicitly in the market. He also warned that the DA would revoke the permits of retailers found guilty of selling this bulb, whether online or in stalls, because health experts have condemned this agricultural merchandise.
The agriculture officials and the Bureau of Customs have been inspecting various ports and warehouses, and this operation has resulted in the confiscation of huge volumes of white onions. The DA initially considered selling the confiscated white onions through the Kadiwa stores but eventually decided against it after phytosanitary tests revealed that the seized 100,000 kilograms of white onions contained E. coli, making them unsafe for human consumption.
Analyzing these developments, we are confident to say President Marcos, as agriculture secretary, is becoming an embarrassment to the public because after the sugar importation debacle that cost the position of his executive secretary, here comes the problem on onions, which is also borne out of the government’s too much reliance on importation.
‘As onion is a vital ingredient in many Filipino dishes, we need hands-on action from the agriculture secretary to ensure that this fund is spent well…’
Onion is a crop that is most suited to Central Luzon, and our farmers there have been producing onions for decades, even with minimal help from the government. According to data from the agriculture department, a kilo of red onions is now worth P280 to P300 in Metro Manila, way higher than P250 on November 11, P200 on November 4, P180 on October 31, and P140 on August 19. A kilo of red onions was worth P180 a year ago.
It takes the Bureau of Plant Industry, the agency under DA that regulates importation rather than production of onions, several weeks to even determine the reasons for the steep hike in prices. The most they could offer by way of explanation is that supply is being checked.
According to the DA, the top onion-producing regions in the Philippines are Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa, and their sufficiency level for red onions fell to zero percent in July. Because of this, officials said, red onions were scarce in November and are expected to recover to 57 percent by December, when local bulb production is estimated to be at 12,416 metric tons.
The problems relative to phytosanitary analysis of imported onions, runaway prices because of depleting supply, and even hoarding to wait for better market days, are all problems related to the supply and value chains, which can be remedied in the long run by ramping up production.
But the DA, under President Marcos, looks unbothered by the fact that local onion production declined by 11,000 metric tons last year from its level in 2020.
According to the Philippine Onion Industry Roadmap 2021-2025, the Philippines needs to increase its onion production from 229,539 metric tons to 279,270 metric tons to achieve self-sufficiency in onions by 2025.
It is not enough that more than two months ago, the DA earmarked P100 million to strengthen local onion production, stressing that several interventions will be implemented to boost the bulb industry in the Philippines.
As onion is a vital ingredient in many Filipino dishes, we need hands-on action from the agriculture secretary to ensure that this fund is spent well for production of onions and thus help the farmers and the consumers alike.
