Can this House bill (HB) filed at the beginning of the 19th Congress be able to address the current runaway prices of onion?
Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Suansing authored HB No.1379, or the proposed Act creating the Philippine Onion Research Institute.
Suansing filed the six-page measure on July 6, 2022, or during the first week of the current 19th Congress. The lady solon's aim is to boost local onion production.
“The Philippines, with all its farming background and setting can easily turn into a respectable onion-producing country," declared Suansing in the explanatory note of the measure.
"However, a comprehensive study from the initial to the final stages of onion production has yet to be put forth, if any, or altered to attune to modern conditions in case an underperforming onion industry in the country beckons,” said noted.
If enacted, the measure will establish the Philippine Onion Research Institute, which will serve as a central experiment station. The facility will undertake extensive research in onion culture and production.
Suansing envisions the institute as "the vehicle which will catapult the country’s onion industry into a more progressive entity".
"The bill, in detail, intends to conduct all kinds of research work for the onion industry, aiming to discover and introduce processes that will improve productivity will such efficiency in all aspects of production," she said.
The institute will operate under the auspices Department of Agriculture (DA).
The bill has been pending before the House Committee on Agriculture and Food since August.
The limited supply of onions have caused prices of the commodity to reach as high as P500 per kilo, reports said.