President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has called for a meeting with importers and producers of onions to set the retail price of the agricultural commodity once it is out in the public markets, Malacañang announced on Thursday.
In a text message to reporters, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the President called for the meeting after imported onions have “arrived already”.
She did not elaborate on how many tons of onions so far have been unloaded to the country.
“The President has ordered a stakeholders’ meeting on Monday with importers, traders, retailers, and farmers to discuss the price since the Department of Agriculture price monitoring team saw imported onions being sold at P180 to P200 per kilogram,” Garafil said.
Early this year, Marcos Jr.—the concurrent Agriculture Secretary—greenlighted the importation of 21,060 metric tons of red onions.
In the Philippines, onions—a staple in every Filipino dish—have become more expensive than meat due to their alleged tight supply, with the price per kilo reaching as high as P800 in some Metro Manila markets.