DA mulls importing onions amid spike in prices

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Tuesday it is considering the possible importation of onions to fill the market demand amid the spike of its prices.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, DA spokesperson Rex Estoperez admitted that there is a problem with the supply of red onions, with only 5,000 metric tonnes expected to be harvested by next month.

“Maliit kasi ang ating imbentaryo sa pula. Naghihintay tayo sana ng harvest pero ang peak season pa niyan [ay] sa February. Sa ngayon, mga 13,000 [metric tonnes] ang ine-expect natin by December, pero kokonti pa rin ‘yun,” he said.

(Our red onion inventory is small. We were supposed to be waiting for the harvest, but the peak season is still in February. Right now, we expect about 13,000 metric tonnes by December, but that's still a few.)

DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista earlier said that they found that some sellers have hiked prices to up to P300 per kilogram.

With the holiday season just around the corner, Estoperez said that the DA has to have a consultation by the first or second week of December to address this problem. They should also check the onion inventories in cold storage facilities.

“Ang gagawin namin siguro sa ngayon, titignan namin saan nanggagaling ito. Worst case is that mag-i-import na naman tayo para matugunan ‘yung pangangailangan especially magho-holiday na,” he said.  

(What we're going to do right now, we're going to see where it's coming from. Worst case is that we will have to import again to meet the demand, especially when we go on holiday.)

“Kung kailangan nating mag-import, mag-import tayo,” he added.

(If we have to import, we will import.) —KG, GMA Integrated News