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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Onion hoarders 'active again'; Romualdez wants answers from DA bureau

Onion hoarders 'active again'; Romualdez wants answers from DA bureau

Published Aug 9, 2023 11:23 am

At A Glance

  • House Speaker Martin Romualdez has summoned Bureau of Plant and industry (BPI) officials to report to his office so they can explain to him and other House leaders why hoarders have been able to manipulate onion prices again. 

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House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)

 

 

 

 

 

Who says that the House of Representatives is done with the onion price surge issue? 

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has summoned Bureau of Plant and industry (BPI) officials to report to his office so they can explain to him and other House leaders why hoarders have been able to manipulate onion prices again. 

This, after Romualdez said in a statement Wednesday, Aug. 9 that the prices of onion in the market have begun to "skyrocket from P90 to P180 per kilo recently". He cited the monitoring of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food for the information. 

"Nagsisimula na namang maging aktibo ang mga hoarders at price manipulators ng sibuyas (Hoarders and price manipulators of onion are beginning to be active again). We will nip this problem in the bud," the Leyte 1st district congressman said. 

"Hindi natin papayagan na pumalo ang presyo nito sa halagang di abot-kaya ng ordinaryong Pilipino (We won't allow onions to reach prices that are too high for the ordinary Filipino to afford),” he said. 

The BPI is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

In December 2022, prices of onion hovered above an absurd P700 per kilo, making it more expensive than meat. 

It was due to this price surge that Romualdez ordered the agricultural and food panel to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation on agricultural hoarding. The probe began last February. 

On Wednesday, the panel resumed its inquiry for the first time in the second regular session. Attending the hearing was BPI Director Glenn Panganiban, who told the House members that current price of red onion range from P140 to P170 per kilo. 

Romualdez said that onion farmers had already sold their harvest to wholesalers, yet the supply remain scarce that lead to higher price of onion. 

Ibig sabihin, nasa cold storage na ang mga ito at pinipigil lang ang release sa market para mapataas ang presyo. Ito ang modus operandi na nadiskubre ng House committee kung kaya napatigil natin ito noon,” the Speaker said. 

(This means that the onions are being held at cold storage facilities instead of being released into the market so prices may go up. We were able to stop this modus operandi earlier after the House committee discovered it.) 

 

Related Tags

hoarding Martin Romualdez Bureau of Plant Industry
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