Even as the price of onions in the market remains very high, cheaper ones will no longer be available in Kadiwa stores as it decided to stop its sale of such product on Friday, Jan. 13, the Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed.
According to Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista, spokesperson of the DA, the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the government and onion supplier Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) already expired last December 31, 2022.
“Bukas wala muna,’no (tomorrow there’s no more selling of cheaper onions in Kadiwa stores) because we have to make sure that if we have to have a supplemental MOA then everything has to be in order,” she said on Thursday, January 12.
“We are exploring all options kasi kung ano ‘yung makakabuti, ‘no, ano ‘yung kung saan (whatever will be better and where) we can have the onions the soonest and the most prudent way,” Evangelista added.
In DA's Kadiwa stores, onions are being sold at P170 per kilo which is way cheaper compared to onions being sold as high as P650 per kilo in some markets.
Evangelista said the agriculture department is continuously monitoring farm-gate prices of onions.
The DA expects the price of onions to go down once the 21,060 metric tons of imports start arriving in the country before January ends.
Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez, deputy spokesperson of the agriculture department, said they are expecting the price of onion to go as low as P150 to P200 per kilo.
The price of onions in some markets went as high as P720 per kilo during the holiday season.