A Dubai-based OFW has shared that instead of the usual balikbayan items such as chocolates,candies, or dates, her luggage usually includes red onions, chili, and lemons.
April Manuel who hails from San Pablo City, Laguna shared in an in interview with The Filipino Times that she has been doing this as a going-home practice even before the pandemic. She has been an OFW in the United Arab Emirates for 15 years.
“It all started sa pagbili ng lemons tuwing uuwi ng Pinas. Siguro it was a routine na mga 10 years ago pa. As we all know, kung meron mang available na lemons sa pinas, ito ay sobrang mahal. Then it was I think year 2019 during the pandemic that we added siling labuyo sa baggage kasi the price of sili was really pricey na umabot daw ng 1000php per kg.
Soon, she would include cooking must-have items in her luggage such as red onions and garlic.
“Then in addition to lemon and sili, ayun na nga, nag-include na kami palagi ng sibuyas and bawang and naging routine na sya tuwing uuwi,” said Manuel.
Her customary practice of bringing home her favorite meal essentials has started way before consumers start to notice the increase in commodity prices and even before the inflation skyrocketed in the Philippines. Manuel said it was because of the quality of products in the UAE that made her decide to bring them home as pasalubong.
“Funny, pero nag-uuwi na kami ng onions even before na mag-trend sya sa social media. Simply because the onions here are quite large and makinis, maganda ang quality ng sibuyas, nakakatuwa talagang magdala. We even taught our kids to bring some kapag nagbabakasyon sila sa UAE during school break,” shared Manuel.
Manuel also shared with The Filipino Times photos of her Facebook memories four years ago which shows photos of her and her family along with dozens of red onions, garlic and chili as pasalubong.
Read: Pinoy tourists in Dubai shop for red onions as pasalubong
Her caption was “Eto na usong pasalubong.”
Her tip to all vacationing OFWs: do it!
“Definitely magdala ng sibuyas kasi it is very handy naman and worth to carry. Kung ginagawa na namin sya noon, ngayon pa kaya na parang ginto na daw ang presyo ng sibuyas. Truth na hindi na chocolates ang magpapasaya sa pamilya, onions na! Just make sure you wrap it well para di mahawa ang amoy sa ibang laman ng bagahe. As much as possible we put it aside along with other commodities in a box, separate from our personal items and belongings. Best gamitin yung similar to small balikbayan box,” said Manuel.
Read: Red onions in Philippines soar to P650 per kilo, twice more expensive than pork
In a separate Facebook post, Donna Liwag Rivera, an OFW based in Saipan shared a photo of onions going sale in their country for as low as $1.79/lb (approximately P100, 1USD= 55.87Php as of January 3).
She captioned the post saying that with the current prices of onions in the country, OFWs should be sending them in balikbayan boxes.
“It was actually a joke with a hint of sarcasm kasi we can’t believe that the onion in the Philippines would reached up to P700/kilo which is $12/kilo,” Rivera told The Filipino Times.
She said she cannot help but contrast how despite Saipan, CNMI, being highly dependent on imported goods, the prices are still reasonable compared to that of the Philippines.
“Lahat dito imported talaga and very minimal ang population namin, I think 55K-65K na tao lang. Pero even imported ang goods namin, onions are only $1.79/lb a looot cheaper than Philippines who has 115Million,” said Rivera.
“Imagine kahit na nga ba imported yung onion sa pinas…with the amount of goods that they have to import, it should still be cheaper..diba? but then the sad part there is…why do we have to import?,” she added.
As of January 3, 2022, the Department of Agriculture’s price watch showed an average of P400-P700 per kilo price of red onions in 12 different wet markets in Metro Manila.
