Workers prepare onions at a trading post in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija on Thursday as the harvest season begins in "the onion capital of the Philippines." Bongabon farmers fear that as the price of onion goes down from a high of P800 per kilo retail price in December to P300 per kilo now because of the onset of harvest season and the entry of imported onions, the farm-gate price they used to reap at P250 per kilo can even go down to as low as P30 per kilo.

• Eye-watering onion prices make Philippine staple a luxury