In a press conference, the Kilusan ng Mamimiling Pilipino Laban sa Kahirapan (Kampilan) said some 27 million kilos of onions are being kept in different cold storages in Central Luzon.
"The importers of these onions are the ones dictating the price of onions in the market. They have successfully manipulated the prices of onions by hoarding the commodity," Kampilan president retired commodore Ismael Aparri told mediamen.
According to Aparri, these importers were able to corner most of the import permits issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
The BPI has issued 400 import permits to allow the entry of imported onions from China, India and the Netherlands. BPI said it had to check the increasing prices of onions and importation is the only remedy.
However, most of the 400 import permits, in turn, were sold by unscrupulous traders to legitimate onion importers from P20,000 to P40,000 per permit. This additional cost is passed on to ordinary consumers, hence, the increase of onion prices which is now between P80 and P100 per kilo in the market.
Kampilan said wholesale prices of onions have gone up from P62.40 per kilo in October to P62.97 in November.
The hoarders also control the supply of onions in the market creating an artificial demand. "The importers would even allow the onions to rot in their warehouses just to make it appear that there is scarcity of supply," Aparri said.
In Divisoria, prices of onion have gone up to P100 per kilo, according to the group.
Kampilan called on Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to seriously look into the matter to protect the consumers from unscruplous traders, especially now that Christmas season is fast approaching.