The Department of Agriculture has warned the public against buying onions from online platforms citing that these products may have been smuggled or illegally imported from other countries.
The DA said that white onions found online are most probably smuggled into the country. The department said that it has yet to issue import permits to address the current shortage.
“Lahat ng pumasok na ‘yan ay mukhang illegal,” DA Deputy Spokesperson Rex Estoperez said in a GMA News report,
Onions are being sold at P1,650 for a nine-kilogram sack or at P180 per kilogram but there is no information yet on the source of the products.
The department added that any smuggled products into the country have not been reviewed and could probably be unfit for human consumption.
The DA will also into any seized shipments of white onions and review them to be sold at stores of the Kadiwa or the “Katuwang sa Diwa at Gawa para sa Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita.”
As of posting time, latest monitoring shows that onions are being sold in Metro Manila markets at P280 per kilo.
