Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday, January 8 said he supports a proposal that seek the creation of a task force against illegal traders who smuggle and sell onions in order to address the issue on rampant smuggling and hoarding of the agricultural produce and other prime vegetable commodities.
Gatchalian made the remark as he weighs in on the current high price of onions being sold in the local markets.
“Sang-ayon ako na gawan natin ng task force ito, for example gumawa ng isang task force ang DA (Department of Agriculture) ang magli-lead dahil sila ang may datos (I agree that we should create a task force on this), for example, the DA will lead the group because they have the data),” Gatchalian said in an interview on Super Radyo DZBB.
“At (dapat) pumasok dito ang NBI para masampahan ng economic sabotage yung mga taong nagho-hoard, dahil para sa akin, etong ginagawa nila, para sa akin, economic sabotage ito eh (the National Bureau of Investigation should also step in the group, to charge the people who are hoarding with economic sabotage, because for me, what they are doing is tantamount to economic sabotage),” he said.
Gatchalian pointed out that a shortage of onion supply is not only hurting farmers and household consumers, but businesses as well, particularly those in the food sector.
“Alam naman natin na ang sibuyas hindi lang naman ginagamit sa bahay yan. Ginagamit din ito sa negosyo. Hindi ka naman pwedeng magbenta ng ulam ng walang sibuyas , hindi mabebenta yan, apektado din ang mga maliliit nating negosyante (We know that onions are not only used at home. It is also used in business. You can't sell a dish without onions. If it won't sell, our small businessmen are also affected),” he explained.
As far as he is concerned, Gatchalian said he can only speculate that there are some onion traders who are hoarding onions or were not selling their inventory stocks that is why the market price of the agricultural produce shot up to P400 to P600 per kilo.
“Analisis ko dito merong mga taong nagho-hoard, or di binebenta yung kanilang imbentaryo kaya tumataas ang presyo. Kaya maimbestigahan ito ng DA, at makita kung sino ba ang mga nag iimport. Definitely may shortage, kaya tumataas ang presyo ng sibuyas, pero bababa yan kung merong supply na papasok (my analysis is that there are people who are hoarding, or are keeping their inventories to themselves, that’s why there is a price hike. That’s why this should be investigated by the DA and for us to see who are importing. Definitely, there is a shortage, that’s why the price of onions are increasing, but it will go down if there are supplies that will come in),” he stressed.
“Kung meron mang nagi- smuggle bababa ang presyo, pero kahit na merong supply na pumapasok hindi, bumababa ang presyo. Kaya nag aking pag aanalisa dito eh merong mga taong hindi inilalabas ang kanilang imbentaryo kaya tumataas ang presyo ng sibuyas (But if there is smuggling, the price of onions will go down, but even though there are supplies entering, the price still won’t drop. That’s why, based on my analysis, there are people who refuse to release their inventory that’s why the price of onions have shot up),” Gatchalian pointed out.
He also said law enforcement agencies should keep an eye on the number of onion traders in the country so the government can effectively monitor who are selling the products at a high price.
“Kanya-kanyang negosyante, kanya-kanyang negosyo eh. Kaya madaling malaman kung sino yng mga taong nagbebenta ng sibiyas at kung sino yung nag ho hoard at nagbebenta sa merkado (Each businessman has his own business. So it is easy to identify who are the people selling onions and who is hoarding and selling in the markets),” he said.