Philippines Onion Crisis: Outcry in the Philippines due to onion shortage, and smuggling from other countries, the government took tough steps
Philippines Onion Crisis: There is an uproar due to the shortage of onions in the Philippines. There is a huge shortage of onions here. Due to the shortage of onion, its prices are also skyrocketing. The situation is that onions are being smuggled into the Philippines.
Highlights
- Onion prices are skyrocketing in the Philippines
- Onions cost three times more than chicken
- 600 pesos per kg rate in Philippines
Philippines: Onion prices are skyrocketing in the Philippines. There has been a huge shortage of onions here, due to which there has been an abnormal increase in the prices of onions. There has been such a shortage of onions in the Philippines that onion smuggling is now being done. The inflation of onion here is such that it is available at almost 3 times the cost of chicken. On Monday, the chicken was selling for 220 pesos ($4) per kilogram, while onions were selling for 600 Philippine pesos ($11) per kilogram, according to the country’s agriculture department.
Joy Salceda, the resident economist of the Philippines House of Representatives, said on Sunday that the world’s most expensive onion is now being sold in the country. Filipinos have flooded social media to complain about the skyrocketing prices. People are expressing displeasure against the increased prices of onions on social media.
Why onion became expensive
Discussions have started happening in the Philippines regarding the price rise of onions. Experts are talking about how onion prices have increased so much. Experts are considering last year’s storm as a major reason for the rise in prices. It was told that due to the storm, crops worth crores of pesos were destroyed. The country has been battling rising inflation in recent months, with consumer prices rising 8.1% in December, a 14-year high, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority. This is also a major reason for the rising prices of onions. Apart from this, prices have skyrocketed due to smuggling, manipulation, and hoarding.
Onion Smuggling
There has been such a shortage of onion in the Philippines that it is being smuggled into the country. According to the official Philippines News Agency, customs officials seized white onions worth more than $300,000 concealed in a shipment of clothing on December 23. Apart from this, on January 8, red onions worth 3 lakh 70 thousand dollars brought from China were also seized.
Steps taken by the government has
taken strict steps to stop the smuggling of onions in the Philippines. Senator Sherwin Win Gatchalian of the Philippines has called for the creation of a task force to combat trafficking. According to a CNN report, President Marcos has approved the import of 21,060 metric tons of onions this week, with shipments expected to arrive by January 27. It was told that about 20,000 metric tons of onions are used in the Philippines every month.
