Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, January 11 urged the government to delay its plans to import around 22,000 metric tons of onions saying it may be best for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to first observe the harvest of local farmers next week before making any drastic moves.
“It’s best to wait and see. Malapit na ang anihan ng ating mga magsasaka at magpapatuloy ito hanggang Abril (Our farmers are about to harvest and this will go on until April),” Hontiveros said.
“Kung maganda ang ani tulad noong nakaraang taon, baka hindi naman kailangan na 22,000 metric tons ang sibuyas na aangkatin (If the harvest is good like last year, maybe there is no need to import 22,000 metric tons of onions),” she said.
The deputy minority leader also urged the DA and Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) to be cautious about the amount of onions the country will import, saying they can adopt a two-step process: import some, then “wait and see.”
“Baka naman pwedeng kalahati lamang ng authorized amount ni Presidente ang dapat ma-import, lalo na kung maging masagana ang makukuha natin sa Nueva Ecija at Mindoro. Pwede namang hindi itodo (Maybe we can import just half of the authorized amount the President allowed to be imported ” she added.
She also said the administration should focus on helping Filipino farmers recover from the bad weather that repeatedly decimated their crops last year.
Hontiveros, however, also said it is imperative to ensure that farm gate prices are justifiable so that local onion farmers can recover, noting that they do not have any crop insurance.
As far as she is concerned, Hontiveros believes the authorization to import onions came in too late.
“The importation is obviously being done belatedly. The imports should have been authorized two months ago in time for the holidays. This error is unforgivable,” she said.
“The BPI and the DA wrongly predicted that the December domestic supplies would be enough to cover the demand,” the lawmaker emphasized.
Hontiveros also encouraged the BPI and the DA to improve their data collection on onions so that officials do not make rash decisions based on feelings alone.