BY IME SORNITO and GLENDA TAYONA
ILOILO City – The price of red onions in Western Visayas increased in the last two to three weeks.
From P150 to 180 per kilo, the average price of red onions in the region is now at P200 per kilo, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6 and vendors from the Iloilo Central and Terminal markets.
Estelita Ireneo, a vendor at the Iloilo Central Market, said she previously sold her onions at P180 per kilo but it is now at P200 per kilo.
“Nagmahal gid man subong kay ang bakal namon sa Super sang bombay tag-P180 per kilo na. Sang nagligad ya nga binulan barato lang, subong ya, baw, tag-P180 na dayun. Ano akon da kon P180 man baligya ko, wala na ako ginansya. Ti, nagabaligya kami P200 para maka-ginansya kami sang P20,” Ireneo told Panay News.
She said it is no longer harvest season – one of the possible reasons for the increase in onion price. She added they buy onions from suppliers from Mindoro and Pangasinan at a high price, thus, the high retail price.
DA-6’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division chief Maria Teresa Solis confirmed that the price hike was due to low supply or low production because harvest season has ended.
She added that there are onion farmers in Iloilo particularly in Miag-ao town but there are no more harvestable standing crops because they were damaged by rains.
With this, Solis said they do not discount the possibility that the price increase will continue.
Solis, however, said the Bureau of Plant Industry has an action plan if the onion price hike will continue.
Market vendors Apple Concepcion and Condrado Montalban of the Iloilo Super Market also sell their onions at P200 per kilo.
Concepcion noted that it is not peak season of red onions and most of the supply are sourced from storage of the suppliers.
“Storage na lang ni subong, wala sang harvest. Amo ran nga kada abot sa amon sang stock nagamahal man,” Concepcion said.
Another vendor, Jomar Leonor, from Iloilo Terminal Market, said they are expecting more price increases in the weeks ahead due to high demand.
“Masaka pa ini sia kay wala na daan sang harvest,” he said.
He noted that he bought red onions in Miag-ao town last month but the supply is not enough now.
He added that red onions bought in Miag-ao are cheaper compared to those sold by other suppliers. The prices range from P100 to P120 per kilo, however, Miag-ao production is low.
Meanwhile, vendor Roselie Gallardo from Iloilo Terminal Market, still sells her onions at P180 per kilo because she doesn’t want her customers to be affected by the price increase.
She believes that the onion prices will go down once imported onions come in.
Currently, most of the onions sold at the Iloilo Central Market are from Mindoro and Pangasinan.
“Native ni tanan kay kon may imported indi man magmahal ang aton bombay,” Gallardo said. In previous months, the price of onion has reached up to P500 to P600 per kilo./PN
