DA sets P125/kilo SRP on imported red onions
PHILSTAR
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has set a suggested retail price (SRP) of P125 per kilo on imported red onions in Metro Manila starting tomorrow as the price of the commodity remains high.
The DA approved the SRP yesterday following the endorsement from importers, traders and retailers, DA Assistant Secretary for consumer affairs and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista said.
“Last Friday, we had a stakeholders’ meeting with importers, traders and retailers… from there, we agreed to recommend the P125 per kilo SRP for imported red onions which is now approved,” she said.
The SRP averaged the red onions’ landed cost, which is around P77 per kilo, the wholesaler price of around P94-110 per kilo and the retailers’ costs such as rent. “So with that, we came up with a price of P125 which was agreed to by retailers,” Evangelista said.
The DA is looking to enforce the SRP by midweek to give time for information dissemination and for retailers to adjust.
“We have to give them enough time to be able to go to our wholesalers… We already coordinated with the Department of the Interior and Local Government to touch base with the market masters… the Local Price Coordinating Council will also help in monitoring and enforcement,” Evangelista said.
Only red onions will have the SRP since retail prices of that commodity remained high despite the entry of imports and local harvests, the DA official added.
Based on DA’s monitoring, the retail price of local red onions ranged between P230 and P320 per kilo while imported red onions were sold at P180-260 per kilo as of yesterday.
On the other hand, local white onions were retailed at P120-250 per kilo.
Last month, the DA cleared the importation of 21,060 metric tons of fresh onions to mitigate the price spike of onions in markets.
As for local onions, the DA hopes to encourage local farmers to be competitive with the imports in terms of pricing. To do this, the DA is strengthening market linkages between farmers and wholesalers and institutional buyers.
Limiting middlemen
To address the high prices of onions, President Marcos has approved initiatives proposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which includes limiting middlemen involved in the onion supply chain.
“There are initiatives proposed by (DTI) Secretary (Alfredo) Pascual which the President approved. But we cannot provide details or disclose except that we will limit traders. With the help of the private sector, we will shorten the supply chain in the middle, between the farmer and the retailer,” Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said during the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.
She said details on the approved initiatives would be announced by the trade secretary once these have been ironed out.
She added that the DTI is looking at how the markup in traders’ prices could be reduced as a form of assistance to the DA.
“DTI really needs to help as our contribution to food security,” she said.
As for DTI’s new SRP bulletin for basic necessities and prime commodities, she said the agency is still looking at some final numbers.
She said some petitions for price increases are considered justified, but there are others seen to be too high and thus the DTI is negotiating with manufacturers if the price hikes can be reduced or be done in tranches.
“As of now, consumers can be rest assured that there is no movement in prices of all products in our SRP bulletin. Until we make a new publication after the August 2022 publication, that’s only when retailers can increase prices,” she said.
