DA urged to wait for harvest before importing onions

Sen. Risa Hontiveros. Senate PRIB file photo

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday raised alarm over the impending importation by the Department of Agriculture (DA) of almost 22,000 metric tons (MT) of onions, urging its officials to wait for the turnout of local harvests next week before making a decision.

She called on the DA and the Bureau of Plant Industry to be cautious about the volume of onions to be imported by the country, suggesting a two-step process of “import some, then wait and see.”

“It’s best to wait and see. Our onion farmers’ harvest season starts in a week and will last until April. If the yield is good like last year, we may not need to import 22,000 metric tons of onions,” she said.

Hontiveros made the statement following President Marcos’ approval of the importation of 21,060 MT of onions, just 940 MT fewer than the DA’s recommendation.

DA officials also quoted the President’s directive that the imported bulbs should arrive in the country by Jan. 27.

Of the almost 22,000 MT to be imported, Marcos directed that 50 percent (about 10,530 MT) be allocated for Luzon markets, while 25 percent each (about 5,265 MT) would be for consumers in Visayas and Mindanao.

“The DA might want to consider importing only half of the amount that the President authorized, especially that we are anticipating an abundance of supply from the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Mindoro,” Hontiveros said.

Aside from the issue of supply, the administration also needs to help Filipino farmers recover from the bad weather that repeatedly decimated their crops last year, she added.

“The country urgently needs its supply of onions but at the same time, we need their prices to go down. But the farm-gate prices should also be fair for our farmers to allow them to recover from the losses they have incurred in previous months,” she said.

In a radio interview, Leonardo Montemayor, president of Federation of Free Farmers, shared Hontiveros’ view that the order to import onions came too late, a repeat of the events leading up to the sugar fiasco last year.

“The order to import sugar was also supported by most sugar farmers and millers, but the order came out late, and because of this, importation did not help lower the price as what they have intended,” he said.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), along with other allied farmer organizations, said it would be holding protests against the onion importation.

KMP chair Danilo Ramos said that big importers and traders would be the ones to benefit from the latest import order while farmers and consumers would be “at the losing end.”

—WITH REPORTS FROm DEMPSEY REYES AND JULIE M. AURELIO