The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Sunday that sacks of white onions recently confiscated in Divisoria, Manila, would be sold in Kadiwa stalls at a cheaper price.
At the same time, the DA said there was more than sufficient supply of pork to meet the market demand this holiday season, noting that consumers preferred buying fresh meat and that only sellers of frozen meat were hesitant to release their supplies in bulk.
In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez gave assurances there was no pork shortage, especially with the forthcoming Yuletide.
In the same interview, Estoperez said the onions, estimated to be worth P3.9 million, would have to undergo phytosanitary inspection first before they could be sold at Kadiwa stalls.
“Before we release them, let’s see first if they’re safe or not,” he said in Filipino.
Estoperez said they have been checking the onion inventories in cold storage facilities since prices for the crop rose sharply.
However, he said the DA has not yet issued a certificate of necessity to import, despite earlier saying that the agency was considering the possible importation of onions to fill the market demand.
Estoperez said the current inventory of red onions is at around 13,000 metric tons, and they expect to harvest 5,000 metric tons more by the first week or second week of December.
Earlier, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the DA said they foiled attempts to smuggle into the country onions estimated at P30 million.
In a statement, the DA said some 100,000 kilos of yellow onions declared as bread pastries were discovered on Nov. 29 as the government continues to investigate the perceived shortage of onions in the country.
The shipment of yellow onions was discovered on Nov. 29 as the government continues to look into the supposed Shortage of onions in the country.
The DA monitoring has established that the price of red onions has peaked at over P300 a kilo.
Nevertheless, the DA said supply of the onions appeared sufficient.
Import documents indicated that the shipment “did not undergo any food safety regulations,” the DA said.
“Smuggled agriculture products pose danger to the local agri-fisheries sector because “cargoes may be carriers of transboundary diseases,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary James Layug said.
The farmers group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) earlier said there was enough supply of pork for the holidays even as prices went up in several wet markets in Metro Manila.
Farmgate prices of live hogs are around P155 to P175 per kilo, according to the group.
But prices of pork products in several wet markets in Metro Manila spiked to P300 a kilo.
At the Commonwealth Market, pork meats were being sold at P270 per kilo while liempo parts are priced at P300.
