Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 12) — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said it expects prices of onion to go down to as low as ₱100 per kilo once imported supply arrives in the country.
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“We are looking at the ₱100-150 (per kilo) cap. These are estimates only because we have to get first the final price of the importers and the second is that we have to consider also the cost of production of our farmer,” DA Deputy Spokesperson Rex Estoperez told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
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He said the 21,060 metric tons of imported onions “should arrive not later than (January) 27” to protect the farmers since harvest season is expected to peak by then. He noted this will arrive in a staggered manner, meaning supply will arrive in 7-8 days from the day an importer applied for permit.
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Estoperez earlier said the application for importation started on Monday and will last until Jan. 13.
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Some agriculture groups and lawmakers have questioned the timing of the approval of onion importation since local farmers are expected to start harvesting this month. They point out that imports should have been done in the latter part of 2022.
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Estoperez said they also proposed importing as early as September and October of 2022 as prices were expected to rise during the holidays, but this was set aside given the huge volume of confiscated onions.
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“Kung parating ng parating ito at pinabayaan natin, papasok na naman ito sa market, sira na naman yung presyo ng harvest ng magsasaka. With that situation, sabi namin wag muna because the off-season harvest eh dumarating din, but nakita namin yung off-season harvest mukhang hindi enough,” he explained.
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[Translation: If they just keep on arriving and we let them be, they will reach our markets and will affect the price of our farmers’ produce. With that situation, we said not to import first since there is also harvest during the off-season, but we saw that this was not enough.]
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Then came Dec. 28 when the DA officials met with onion industry stakeholders to set the ₱250 per kilo suggested retail price (SRP) “on the promise of stakeholders that they will encourage farmers” to lower farmgate prices so market prices will also be lower, Estoperez said.
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“Pero hindi nayari iyon. Nag-lapse nung yung SRP natin January 7 wala pa ring bumababa sa farmgate price to the level of 250 (pesos),” he said.
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[Translation: That did not happen. The SRP lapsed on January 7, and yet the farmgate price did not go down to the ₱250-level.]
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Another consideration was the December inflation data, which soared to a fresh 14-year high at 8.1%, the highest since November 2008 at 9.1%.
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Estoperez noted onion was one of the main drivers at 0.3%, so they recommended to import to have additional supply in the market.
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The DA official assured farmers they are aware of their concerns and that they are protecting them, while also addressing the impact of onions on the inflation rate.
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“Calibrated po yung importation natin on the time and the volume, so pagdating po dito we are expecting na hindi dapat ito makaapekto ng atin pong harvest,” Estoperez said.
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[Translation: Our importation is calibrated on the time and the volume, so once they arrive we are expecting they will not affect local harvest.]
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