Ombudsman to probe DA officials over onion procurement

The Office of the Ombudsman will investigate officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI) over its procurement of onions worth around P500 per kilo.

According to Allan Gatus’ report on Super Radyo dzBB, the Ombudsman will investigate the DA and the FTI’s procurement of onions worth P537 per kilo from the Bonena Multipurpose Cooperative.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires said he will send notices to DA and FTI officials. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the sitting secretary of the DA.

The officials will be made to explain the reasoning behind the procurement of onions at such a price when the same onions are sold at Kadiwa stores for P170 per kilo.

DA spokesperson Rex Estoperez on Monday earlier said that the agency is looking at price manipulation as one of the reasons for the high cost of onions in public markets.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, for her part, said the Ombudsman’s probe on officials of the DA is long overdue.

"Sana mas napaaga ang imbestigasyon ng Ombudsman sa mga opisyales ng DA di lamang tungkol sa napakataas na presyo ng sibuyas pero maging ng iba pang bilihin tulad ng asukal, gulay, isda at bigas. Magandang imbestigahan din kung bakit DA officials ang palaging nagtutulak na mag-import tayo ng kung anong produktong agrikultural na siya namang nakakasama sa ating mga magsasaka. Ngayon mag-iimport naman ng sibuyas," she said.

(This should have happened earlier, and the probe on DA officials should also include rising prices of other commodities like sugar, vegetable, fish and rice. It is also a good time to probe as to why DA officials are pushing for importation which has adverse effect on local farmers.)

Castro said onion cartel is not a new issue along with the rice and garlic cartels, and that back in 2014, the Department of Justice-Office for Competition (DOJ-OFC) completed two separate fact-finding investigations of alleged collusion in the garlic and onion industries.

She said that based on the DOJ-OFC newsletter in early 2015, they confirmed that collusion and cartel existed in the onion industry. Investigation showed that the same personalities as in the garlic case used similar modus operandi to corner import permits as well as manipulate onion supply and its prices.

“Among the DOJ-OFC’s policy recommendations to weed out harmful and abusive business practices in the garlic and onion industries include the removal of the current permit system considering that supply is dependent on importations, clear and impartial guidelines in the issuance of import permits, and amendment of existing laws and regulations,” Castro said.

"It seems that nothing came out of these recommendations and the cases they filed because the onion cartel is back again in full force and raking in humongous profits. We hope that the Ombudsman's probe would be more thorough and those responsible would truly be held to account," she added.

Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday said a cartel could be behind the high prices of onions in local markets, citing a 2013 investigation that showed that there is an onion cartel that has "complete control" over the supply in the country.

Due to the continuous rise in prices in public markets, the DA on Saturday recommended importing 22,000 metric tons of onions. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KG/AOL, GMA Integrated News