INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS/JEROME CRISTOBAL
MANILA, Philippines鈥擶hile the Philippine government, consumers, and farmers continue to bear the impact of high onion prices in the country, neighboring nations hardly face any issues in prices and supply of staple vegetable.
The price of red and white onion in local markets in the Philippines saw huge increases in the latter part of 2022 until last week. After that, the cost of a kilogram of onion skyrocketed and was sold at prices greater than a kilo of meat or a day鈥檚 worth of minimum wage.
The Department of Agriculture鈥檚 (DA) price monitoring showed that as of January 23, a kilogram of local red and white onion costs P200-P350 in local markets.
While the prevailing retail prices of locally grown red and white onions were lower compared to the all-time high of P700 per kilogram during the holiday season, prices were still higher compared to the retail price of P180 per kilogram a year ago.
As it turns out, prices of onions in the Philippines were also significantly higher than retail prices in markets across the globe, as well as in Switzerland鈥攚here President Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Marcos Jr, who concurrently serves as the agriculture secretary, recently visited for the World Economic Forum.
Cheaper elsewhere
In the United States, a bag of 3 pounds of red onion (a little over 1 kilo) sold in a well-known grocery store has a retail price of $2.98 or around P163.
The retail prices of a 3-pound bag of sweet onions and a 3-pound bag of yellow onions sold in the same grocery store were $2.64 and $2.38, respectively鈥攐r at least P144 and P130.
According to Jay Art Navaroza, a Filipino netizen currently residing in the US, a piece of huge red onion can be bought in a known grocery store online for only $0.94 to $0.99, or around聽P51聽to聽P54.
Meanwhile, a popular grocery store in the United Kingdom sells a kilo of red onion for 拢1.05 or roughly P71, while a kilo of white onion was 拢1 or around below P70.
GRAPHIC Ed Lustan
Filipino netizens Jeric Dajutoy and Vikki Karr Roldan told聽黑料社聽that a kilo of onion could be bought for as low as 3 SAR or at least P44 in a local market in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while the same amount of onion was worth 600楼 or around P251 in a small supermarket located in Hanamatsu, Japan.
A huge retail store in Canada meanwhile sells a pound of red onions for 1.99 CAD or around P90, while a pound of yellow or white onion costs 2.99 CAD or at least P121, netizen Miguel Arabe told 黑料社.
GLOBAL COMPARISON | Markets in Toronto and Alberta in Canada sell onions for lower prices. PHOTOS: Miguel Arabe
Meanwhile, prices of red, yellow, and white onions in markets in Toronto and Alberta range from 1.29 CAD to 4.99 CAD, or around P52 to around P200.
Prices of onions in a market in Alberta, Canada range from 1.29 CAD to 4.99 CAD. PHOTOS: Miguel Arabe
Even in Davos, where Marcos Jr. and world leaders and businessmen recently gathered for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), onions in grocery stores were sold at half the price of those in the Philippines.
GRAPHIC Ed Lustan
A half a kilo of white onions sold at a branch of Coop, one of Switzerland鈥檚 largest retail and wholesale companies, was worth 1.40 Swiss francs, or P83 pesos, or about P166 per kilogram.
For 2.50 francs, or around P148.55, one can buy a 600-gram mixed bundle of red and white onions.
READ:
Onions as聽pasalubong
Amid the increasing prices of onion in the country, 10 flight crew members of the Philippine Airlines tried to bring home 40 kilos of onions and fruits from the Middle East as聽pasalubong.
However, on January 10, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted the PAL crew and confiscated their luggage due to a lack of import permit and clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
According to BOC, travelers entering the Philippines cannot bring vegetables鈥攔egardless of quantity鈥攚ithout Plant Quarantine Clearance (for personal use) or Sanitary & Phytosanitary Import Clearance (for commercial use) from the BPI.
Initially, BOC spokesman Arnold dela Torre Jr. said in an interview that the agency considered filing criminal charges against the PAL crew for violation of the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978 due to the lack of a phytosanitary certificate and the Presidential Decree 1433 and Section 1404 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act for failing to declare the produce.
However, several senators expressed dismay that the PAL crew members are put in hot water for bringing onions to the Philippines as pasalubong, pointing out the聽supposed double standards that authorities purportedly have shown聽for punishing the airline personnel while letting big-time smugglers go free.
On January 19, Dela Torre Jr. disclosed that no charges might be filed against the flight crew members, explaining that Presidential Decree No. 1433 or the Plant Quarantine Decree of 1978 only provides the confiscation of agricultural products brought into the country for personal consumption.
READ:聽PAL crew won鈥檛 be charged over souvenir onions, says BOC
TSB/abc
RELATED STORIES:
What we know so far about 鈥榦ut of control鈥� rise in onion prices
The PH onion conundrum: Solutions elusive, stop-gaps at best