AN economist-lawmaker on Wednesday urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to closely coordinate with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to investigate the reported existence of an onion cartel in the country.
During a briefing of the DA with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo strongly believed that the alleged anti-competitive practices and cartel in the onion industry are the main factors driving the high price of onions.
Quimbo said that the onion shortage is only at about 7 percent, which makes skyrocketing prices questionable.
“I am informing you right now, for your information, the government agency that has jurisdiction over cartel is PCC, you need to report to the PCC, you need to coordinate with them, they have sufficient powers to enforce against any cartel in the entire Philippine economy,” Quimbo told Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Glenn Panganiban.
Panganiban agreed with lawmakers that there could be anomalies in the supply chain, noting that farmers confirmed in a stakeholders’ consultation, that supply is available.
In the same hearing, Panganiban said they raided a warehouse with alleged smuggled onions from China in November last year in Valenzuela, but when they returned to confiscate the onions, the crop “disappeared overnight.”
“We had a report that there were found ‘maid in China’ onions in a cold storage last year but the very next day that thousands of bags of onions suddenly disappeared,” said Panganiban.
Panganiban assured Quimbo that they are coordinating with the PCC on the matter.
“I can’t say if there is a cartel but it looks like [some groups are] controlling [this problem on onions], I don’t know if that’s what it’s called—[cartel],” he said.
The House Committee on Agriculture and Food chaired by Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga held a briefing with the DA on the state of the country’s onion industry.
Enverga said the panel wants the government to be more responsive to the needs of the sector.
He added that mechanisms should be put in place to make the country more prepared, stressing that timely response is important in agriculture.
Skyrocket
According to Quimbo, the price of local onion skyrocketed in September 2022.
“In August [last year] your assessment of the supply is enough but by September or 30 days after, the price of onions has skyrocketed, in fact we are the highest in the world. So what’s your explanation there, again prices determined by the supply and demand, and now we have no more supply, what happened?” Quimbo asked.
“Also, how did we go from a situation of excess supply and very low prices in 2019 to the exact opposite in 2022 of lack of supply and very very high prices,” she added.
Panganiban, meanwhile, told lawmakers that onion production remained steady since 2016, and even continued to increase until last year.
Panganiban said that the BPI is implementing initiatives to help address challenges in the onion industry, including strengthening cooperation with the Philippine Statistics Authority to harmonize onion data; assisting farmers to sell direct to consumers through Kadiwa; establishing new storage facilities; collaborating with law enforcement and port authorities to curb smuggling and unscrupulous trading; and provision of seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides to farmers.