MANILA -- Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol on Friday ordered the suspension of importation of bulb onions, pending the results of the investigation of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the reported "cartel", which is manipulating the buying price of locally-produced onion.
In his Facebook page, Piñol said the suspension would prevent the cartel from benefitting from their operations where they forced the drop in the buying price of local onions by leasing and closing cold storage facilities to farmers.
Prices of red onion fell from a high of PHP30 per kilo before harvest to only about PHP15 now.
With bumper harvest of onion now in Central Luzon, Mindoro and Iloilo, he said traders have started their manipulation of the market.
"The practice in the onion industry is for local farmers to store their excess production in cold storage facilities and release this to the market at off-season," he said.
Some of these storage facilities were built with government funds and turned over to farmers’ cooperatives, some of which connive with big time traders now.
The DA is funding the construction of three more cold storage facilities this year in Tarlac, Mindoro and Iloilo.
Onion farmers in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija earlier sought the help of the government amid low prices of their produce with the top quality pegged at only PHP15 to PHP16 per kilo.
Former 2nd district board member and farmer leader Joseph Ortiz said traders would always question the quality of their onions in apparent reluctance to give them a good price.
"If the onion bulb is big, the traders say it is oversized and when it is small, they say, it is reject," Ortiz said, adding that some frustrated farmers would just leave their produce as garbage by the roadside.
According to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, at least 21,086 farmers have planted onions on a total of 11,502.84 hectares in 22 towns and cities of Nueva Ecija this year.
With the farmers' produce bought at “very low prices” cornered and consolidated, traders could control the pricing of onion in the market and generate huge profits.
As such, the DA on Wednesday asked the PCC and the NBI to investigate reports that trading firms have closed down four major cold storage facilities in an apparent attempt to force farmers to sell at low prices.
Among the companies targeted for investigation for possible violation of fair competition and economic sabotage are Rivson, Argo, Kasamne and Titan, all in Nueva Ecija.
The traders are expected to consolidate the local production as they await for the time when they will be allowed to import.
Under an arrangement agreed between farmers groups and the importers, the importation of onions would only be done after the harvest of the local onions.
Meanwhile, the DA has directed the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) to support the arrangement by scheduling the processing of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits until after the harvest season.
The BPI reported that no SPS permits have been issued since October.
The moratorium on the issuance of SPS permits will be extended until such time the PCC and NBI have terminated their investigation.
DA Undersecretary for Operations Ariel Cayanan was directed to engage other private cold storage facilities for temporary use by onion farmers, while Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Executive Director Jocelyn Badiola was directed to engage other private cold storage facilities for temporary use by onion farmers. (PNA)
