FILE PHOTO: Senator Risa Hontiveros during hybrid hearing October 19, 2022. – Hontiveros urges on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, concerned government agencies to first observe the harvests of local onion farmers before making a huge importation. (Screengrab/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — It may be best to observe the harvests of local onion farmers first before making a huge importation of the crop.
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday urged concerned government agencies to do this, pointing out that the reaping season would start soon and would even occur until April.
Department of Agriculture (DA) deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez previously said that the onion harvesting season will start in mid-January and would peak in mid-February to May.
Nevertheless, the DA had authorized the importation of at least 21, ooo metric tons (MT) of onions – 17,100 MT of fresh red onions and 3,960 MT of fresh yellow onions – in a bid to “address the supply gap prior to peak harvest in 2023 and to stabilize the continuous increase in the price of fresh onions in the market.”
Retail prices of onion reached P600 per kilo in the market.
“It’s best to wait and see. Malapit na ang anihan ng ating mga magsasaka at magpapatuloy ito hanggang Abril. Kung maganda ang ani tulad noong nakaraang taon, baka hindi naman kailangan na 22,000 metric tons ang sibuyas na aangkatin,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
(It’s best to wait and see. The harvest season is near and it will continue until April. If harvests are good like last year, we may not need to import 22,000 metric tons of onions.)
“Baka naman pwedeng kalahati lamang ng authorized amount ni Presidente ang dapat ma-import, lalo na kung maging masagana ang makukuha natin sa Nueva Ecija at Mindoro. Pwede namang hindi itodo,” the opposition senator added.
(Maybe it would be okay to import just half of what the President has authorized, especially if the harvest would be abundant in Nueva Ecija and Mindoro. It’s okay to not import all of it.)
For Hontiveros, the authorization to import the agricultural commodity was issued too late.
“The importation is obviously being done belatedly. The imports should have been authorized two months ago in time for the holidays. This error is unforgivable. The BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry) and the DA wrongly predicted that the December domestic supplies would be enough to cover the demand,” she pointed out.
Hontiveros then called on the DA and BPI to improve their onion data collection so officials do not make rash decisions.
“Limitado ang datos ng DA ukol sa lawak at laki ng ani mula sa mga taniman ng sibuyas. Kaya hindi malayong mabago pa ang 22,000 metric tons na iniutos ni Presidente. Huwag muna tayong magpadala sa ‘ramdam sampling.’ Maghunos dili muna,” she said.
(The DA’s data on onion harvests is limited. So, it is not impossible to change the 22,000-metric ton importation authorized by the President. Let us not be swayed by “feeling-sampling.” Let us calm down.)
Hontiveros likewise emphasized that the Marcos administration should assist local farmers recover from the inclement weather that damaged their crops in 2022.
READ: Agricultural damage piling up as storm exits PAR
“Kailangang magkaroon na ng supply ng sibuyas at kailangang bumaba na ang presyo,” she said. “Pero dapat makatarungan rin naman ang ang farm gate price para makabawi at makabangon ang mga magsasaka. Wala namang crop insurance mula sa DA-PCIC (Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation) ang mga nagtatanim ng sibuyas.”
(We need to have onion supply and its prices need to go down. But the farm gate price should also be just for our farmers to recover. Onion farmers have no crop insurance from the DA-PCIC.)