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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider DA sets price cap on imported red onions to curb soaring cost

DA sets price cap on imported red onions to curb soaring cost

Published Nov 6, 2025 06:22 pm
(Manila Bulletin file photo)
(Manila Bulletin file photo)
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to introduce a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) on imported red onions to bring down prices, which have soared to ₱140 per kilo.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said his agency could issue the policy outlining the MSRP on imported red onions as early as next week.
Tiu Laurel said the MSRP for red onions should be around ₱120 per kilo, which could still be adjusted down to ₱100 per kilo.
“We might impose an MSRP on [red] onions because, even though we have plenty of imports, the prices in the market are still not going down,” he said in a chance interview.
Last month, Tiu Laurel said he silently authorized the importation of up to 5,000 metric tons (MT) of red onions to help bring down prices of the commodity.
He said prices of red onions have gone up to around ₱140 per kilo, which he said is “too high” for an imported produce.
He had earlier withheld local stocks to maximize the prices of red onions.
“That means somebody is taking advantage, and I suspect it’s the retailers,” said Tiu Laurel.
Based on the DA’s latest weekly average prices in select wet markets across Metro Manila, imported red onions is priced ₱120 per kilo.
Meanwhile, local red onions stood at ₱155 per kilo.
In a related development, Tiu Laurel said he will still meet with retailers to find a common ground with the planned resumption of MSRP on pork.
The DA recently said that it would reinstate a price ceiling on pork before the end of the year, with the level “to be determined carefully to balance profitability across the supply chain and consumer protection.”
Last May, the agency reversed its initial MSRP policy on pork because of low compliance among wet markets in the capital region. At that time, only around five percent of retailers were found to be compliant.
The MSRP was initially set at ₱350 per kilo for pigue (leg/ham) and kasim (shoulder), and ₱380 per kilo for liempo (pork belly).
A price limit was also imposed for “sabit ulo” or freshly slaughtered carcass at ₱300 per kilo.
Based on latest market prices, the average price for pigue is ₱348 per kilo while liempo is ₱398 per kilo.
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