Palace: DA defers extension of P250 SRP on onions

Malacañang said on Tuesday the Department of Agriculture (DA) has deferred the extension of the P250 suggested retail price imposed on onions.

"The DA has deferred the extension of the P250 suggested retail price (SRP) due to the forecasted lower price range of onions following the harvest season," the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a press release.

"According to the DA, onion prices may decrease to P100 to P150 per kilo with the entry of more than 5,000 metric tons (MT) of imported onions," the PCO added.

In December of last year, the DA pegged the SRP of red onions per kilo in the wet markets in the National Capital Region (NCR) at P250.

The announcement was made through an administrative circular, "which shall take effect for the remaining days of December 2022 until the first week of January 2023, subject to another stakeholders’ consultation.”

The circular, signed by DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, stated that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA No. 7581 empowers and directs the agency, as an implementing agency, to issue an SRP for "any or all basic necessities and prime commodities under its jurisdiction for the information and guidance of producers, retailers, and consumers."

In a meeting, the President, who also sits as DA chief, "raised the issue of the lack of cold chain facilities that affects onion supply and prices, as he stressed the industry's need for more of those facilities."

“We need more cold storage, we need a better, stronger cold chain para ma-maintain naman natin, ma-preserve naman natin ‘yung agricultural products,” Marcos said.

“So iyon ang mga plano, ‘yun ang mga ginawa namin para [sa] mga immediate needs doon sa ating mga nagtataasan na presyo ng agricultural products,” he added.

(So that's the plan, that's what we do regarding our immediate needs and on the increasing prices of agricultural products.)

The onions recently imported by the Philippine government have already arrived in the country, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.

Some are hoping that the DA's pronouncement that the price of onions will go down to P80 per kilo will soon happen. —KG, GMA Integrated News