Raps filed with antitrust body vs. onion cartel, ₱2.4-B fine sought
Metro Manila, Philippines — Charges have been filed with the government antitrust body against importers and traders of onions for anticompetitive practices.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, the Enforcement Office of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said it charged six firms for “allocating the supply of imported onions by assigning among themselves Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSIC) issued by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry and dividing among themselves the volume of onion allowed to be imported.”
The office said it sued Philippine Vieva Group of Companies, Inc. (Phil. Vieva Group); Tian Long Corp. (Tian Long); La Reina Fresh Vegetables & Young Indoor Plants, Inc. (La Reina); Yom Trading Corporation (Yom Trading); Vegetable Importers, Exporters & Vendors Association of the Philippines (VIEVA Phils.); and Golden Shine International Freight Forwarders Corp. (Golden Shine).
The SPSIC indicates that the produce has been inspected and cleared of possible pests and diseases.
The PCC added that the companies were also “colluding to lessen competition by exchanging sensitive business information such as price, suppliers, customers, volume, shipping, distribution, and storage.”
The office also named the following as respondents: Lilia M. Cruz, vice president of Phil. Vieva Group, chairperson and president of Golden Shine, and chairperson of VIEVA Phils.; Eric Pabilona, board member of Phil. Vieva Group, corporate executive officer of Golden Shine, and corporate secretary of Tian Long; Renato V. Francisco, Jr., board member of Phil. Vieva Group, president of La Reina, and chairman and president of Yom Trading; and Letty T. Baculando, board member of Phil. Vieva Group and incorporator of Golden Shine. Likewise impleaded were Mark Castro Ocampo, sole proprietor of Vegefru Producing Store (Vegefru); and Nancy Callanta Rosal, sole proprietor of Rosal Fruit and Vegetable Trading (Rosal).
“As the PCC’s investigative and prosecutorial arm, the Enforcement Office claimed that these vegetable traders, despite being competitors, conspired to manipulate the onion market in the Philippines from 2019 to 2023,” the commission said.
“The traders, who imported onions from China, the Netherlands, and India, allegedly worked together to control prices and limit competition,” it said
The Enforcement Office said these “substantially reduced competition, leading to distorted supply and artificial price increases, thereby harming consumers.”
The recommended total fine was around ₱2.4 billion, according to the PCC.
While entities found engaging in anti-competitive deals may be fined at least ₱110 million, the PCC said the amount may be tripled if the violation involves basic or prime commodities like onions.
The PCC said it collected documents, records, and electronic data related to trading activities during its administrative search and inspection in September 2023.
“I’m happy with the decision of PCC,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Thursday. “It should be a sign to all smugglers and unscrupulous traders that we will go after all of them.”
“In addition to the fines and legal charges, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will explore the possibility of blacklisting these unscrupulous traders and potentially withdrawing the accreditation of cold storage facilities whose owners were complicit in this scheme,” Laurel said.
In July last year, the Department of Justice said it was working on building an economic sabotage case against a network of industry players involved in the alleged onion cartel.
Prices of onions went up to as much as ₱700 per kilogram in 2022. It was an issue that hounded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his concurrent leadership of the DA.
Malacañang in August said Marcos issued a directive instructing the PCC and other government agencies to pursue the filing of cases against smugglers, hoarders, and those engaged in anti-competitive practices.
