ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DA exec assures solons: P170 per kilo max price for onions this December

DA exec assures solons: P170 per kilo max price for onions this December

Published Aug 9, 2023 06:39 am

At A Glance

  • Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Glenn Panganiban has assured congressmen that onion prices will have a ceiling of P170 per kilo in December, but only after he was threatened with sanction if ever "history repeats itself". 

IMG-78f8a39e80a9eca1a305e28c873ac1b8-V.jpg

Red onions (File photo/ Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

A Department of Agriculture (DA) official has assured congressmen that onion prices will have a ceiling of P170 per kilo in December, but only after he was threatened with sanction if ever "history repeats itself".

Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Glenn Panganiban gave this guarante Wednesday morning, Aug. 9 to the House Committee on Agriculture and Food during the continuation of the panel's motu propio investigation on the agricultural hoarding issue.

During his questioning by Cavite 4th district Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., Panganiban, a resource person in the hearing, told the committee that the country will have "more than ample" supply of red onions up to December this year.

"So if the supply is more than the demand [for December], we can expect that there will be the same prices?" Barzaga asked.

"Opo (Yes)," answered Panganiban, who said that the Philippines will have a supply of 21,000 metric tons (MTs) of red onions for December.

Earlier in the hearing, the BPI chief told the panel that the price range of red onions is P140 to P170 per kilo.

"We want to see to it that there will be sufficient supply as compared to the demand, and therefore the price would be more or less the same," the senior National Unity Party (NUP) stalwart said.

"We will ensure that po sir," replied Panganiban.

"So we anticipate, the Filipino people, maximum, P170? December?" Barzaga asked, alluding to the skyrocketing of onion prices to as much as P700 per kilo during the closing months of the year. The DA official answered in the affirmative.

However, Barzaga--wanting more than just verbal guarantees--put the pressure on Panganiban by asking him: "If these prices will not happen in reality, and they will be more, what sanctions do you think can be imposed against you and the other officials of BPI?"

"Kasi history na ito eh. Ayaw namin ng history repeats itself. Ano sanction, pagre-resignin ko kayo? (Because this is already parr of history. We won't want history to repeat itself. What sanction do you want, shall I have you resign?) What happened last year should not happen this year," he further told Panganiban.

"Yes sir, we ensure that sir," Panganiban said, referring to the promised retail price of P170.

Initiated back in February by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the committee's inquiry on agricultural hoarding sought to find out the reason behind absurd onion price surge.

In May, the panel, through Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo, identified businesswoman Lilia Cruz alias Leah Cruz as the top player in the onion cartel that had caused prices of the commodity to skyrocket.

The BPI is an attached agency of the DA.

Related Tags

elpidio Barzaga jr. onion price hike Onion
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.