With the arrival of imported onions and the anticipated peak of the onion harvest season, the Department of Agriculture on Monday said it was lowering the suggested retail price of onions to P125 per kilo to take effect on Wednesday, 8 February.
DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista, in an interview, said the department, importers, traders, and retailers agreed to the P125 per kilo SRP during a recent stakeholders meeting.
“Aside from that, we also are linking retailers to wholesalers of imported red onions to inform them of the cost structure we made so that they will be well-guided, for them to be able to negotiate with their suppliers,” Evangelista said.
“At the same time, we have identified some suppliers who are willing to sell wholesale to retailers in compliance with the SRP,” she added.
The wholesale and imported prices were considered when setting the P125 per kilo SRP for imported red onions.
“We talked with wholesalers from the Divisoria market, so we averaged it. We came up with P125 per kilo, and retailers agreed with that amount,” Evangelista said.
“Right now, we are looking at NCR because the wholesalers we found are here in NCR. We will also be talking to our regional field offices if the approach is the same,” she added.
Evangelista said that setting an SRP for locally grown onions is not yet an option, adding that they are focused on imported red onions.
In a separate radio interview, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the department set the suggested retail price at P125 per kilo to guarantee that retail prices would decrease.
“Yes, the suggested retail price is at P125 (per kilo), but our problem is, would the market comply if we impose a P125 SRP,” Estoperez said.
Onion prices in some regions of the country soared to as high as P700 per kilo at the height of the supply shortage.
Despite the beginning of the harvest season, the country turned to the importation of onions to stop the price increase.