Red onions go for sale in a market in Manila on October 12, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA— President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Saturday said the government is looking for ways to deal with smuggled onions and release it to the market as the commodity's price remains elevated.
During a chance interview with reporters during his surprise inspection at a government warehouse in Valenzuela City, Marcos said people have sought the onions they confiscated.
"Sabi namin... as quickly as possible, naghahanap nga kami ng paraan kasi usually ‘yan kakasuhan mo pa bago ‘yung auction. By the time, i-auction mo ‘yan, wala na sira na ‘yan,” Marcos said.
“Kaya’t sabi ko hanap tayo ng paraan para mailabas kaagad, mailagay sa market kaagad. So ‘yun ang pinag-aaralan namin ngayon. Baka by next week mayroon na tayong solution," he added.
The Department of Agriculture has recently confiscated thousands of kilograms of both red and yellow onions as the agency probes the reason why its prices remains high.
Agriculture officials are considering selling the confiscated onions to Kadiwa stores once these are confirmed safe for consumption. Some onions though have been found with chemical residue and E. coli.
DA's deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez had said the onions may be sold at a lower price since these did not come at a cost to the government.
Estoperez though said the country's onion supply will be sufficient until the year ends.
Red onions are sold at P300 per kilo in some wet markets as of this week, based on the DA's monitoring.
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