Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has stated that the Department of Agriculture will be suspending the importation of bulb onions pending a probe on alleged cartel operations as prices of the crop have gone down due to oversupply.
In a Facebook post, Piñol said importation of onion will be halted "pending the results of the investigation of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the reported operations of a cartel manipulating the buying price of locally-produced onions."
Piñol said the move could stop the cartel from benefiting from their operations "where they forced the drop in the buying price of local onions by leasing and closing cold storage facilities to onion farmers."
Gmanetwork.com reported that prices of onion have gone down due to excessive supply glutting the market, on the back of the harvest season and the availability of imported onions. Farmers have been forced to sell their produce at low prices just to recoup their capital.
