House Speaker Martin Romualdez, onions (Speaker's office, MANILA BULLETIN)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez favored on Monday, May 22 the impending imposition of a suggested retail price (SRP) of P150 per kilo for red onions and P140 per kilo for white onions. “The imposition of a Suggested Retail Price for onions, particularly now that market prices are on the uptrend anew, will shield our consumers from unconscionably high prices,” Romualdez said. “But extreme care should be taken to ensure that in the imposition of the SRP, the interest of stakeholders such as the consumers, the traders, the market vendors, and especially our onion farmers are suitably protected,” added the Leyte 1st district congressman. The Department of Agriculture (DA) came up with the onion SRP as a way to protect consumers from profiteers and price manipulators. Reports said it will be implemented within the week. It was last week when the House Committee on Agriculture and Food essentially concluded its four-month inquiry on the onion price surge, which pestered consumers in late 2022. Through the hearings, the solons tried to expose the alleged onion cartel and the extent of their operations. But Romualdez reckoned that the imposition of the SRP alone would not address the recurring problem of wild price fluctuations of onion. “As the hearings of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food have indicated, dismantling the onion cartel is a key element in ensuring the stable price of this commodity. Unless we destroy this cartel, this problem will haunt us again and again in the future,” he noted. Earlier, Speaker Romualdez urged authorities like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), and the DA to work together and pursue the leads obtained in the congressional hearings to build an airtight case against the onion cartel. “Putting members of this cartel behind bars will send the unmistakable message that the government will not tolerate any unfair trade practices that prey on the hapless consumer and farmers,” he said.