Artificial onion shortage traced to hoarding

A group of consumers said there is an artificial shortage of onions in the market caused by hoarding. Only the inferior ones are being sold in the market, while the "better and selected" variety are released slowly and sold in small quantities to raise prices, the Kilusan ng Mamimiling Pilipino Laban sa Kahirapan (Kampilan) said in a statement.

Kampilan president retired Commodore Ismael Aparri, said they have called the attention of the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Plant Industry on some 400 import permits for onions issued by the BPI that were being sold by unscrupulous traders to legitimate onion importers at rates ranging from P20,000 to P40,000 per permit.

Aparri warned that despite the flooding of imported onions in the market, the prices are not likely go down because what is being sold are only those of inferior quality, while the good ones are being hoarded and being sold in small quantities.

Kampilan urged the DA and the BPI to examine the list of companies which obtained permits to import onions. It said there are only 30 legitimate importers, while the rest are all dummies which cornered the bulk of the 400 permits.

Kampilan said one of those in the list is a company that was reportedly involved in the smuggling of frozen pork in China and which were ordered seized by the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Animal Industry. — Nestor Etolle