DA eyes retailers’ help to trace smugglers

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is hoping for the cooperation of retailers in public wet markets to trace smugglers of agricultural goods.

The call came as the DA and the Philippine National Police spotted suspected smuggled red onions in some stalls in Paco Market in Manila on Wednesday, June 18.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA had not issued import permits for red and yellow onions since January.

“After this confirmation na meron dito sa Paco Market, it is safe to assume na nasa lahat na market ‘yan or karamihan ng market,” Tiu Laurel told reporters after the market inspection.

[Translation: After this confirmation that there are smuggled onions here at the Paco Market, it is safe to assume that smuggled onions are in all or many markets.]

The alleged smuggled red onions were not confiscated, but the DA will be testing the goods if they are safe for human consumption.

In April, the DA said authorities intercepted in Pampanga a shipment of smuggled white onions from China which were found positive for heavy metals and salmonella.

Tiu Laurel also said the vendors will not be apprehended as they seemed unaware that the onions were allegedly smuggled.

He said they will be urged to become “informers” instead to trace the “big fish,” who might be violating the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law.

“We will try to track down kung saan ang volume na pinanggalingan niyan for our report to DA,” Lt. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo, the Philippine National Police’s chief of directorial staff said.

“We will be in constant collaboration and coordination for the said confiscation and filing of cases o-sa mga nagho-hoard niyan, warehouse niyan, or malakihang nagbabiyahe niyan,” Okubo said.

[Translation: We will try to track down the source of the alleged smuggled goods for our report to the DA. We will be in constant collaboration and coordination for the said confiscation and filing of cases against hoarders, owners of warehouses, or big-time transporters.]

Tiu Laurel also said the DA will also train police officers the differences of local produce to imported ones to intensify the anti-smuggling campaign.

In December 2024, the DA said it blacklisted three companies, which were tagged in a congressional probe on an alleged onion cartel.

In September 2024, the Enforcement Office of the Philippine Competition Commission filed charges against importers and traders of onions for anticompetitive practices.