71,000 kilos of 'smuggled' onions buried in Zamboanga City
MANILA, Philippines — While consumers continue to suffer from high prices of onions in local markets due to alleged lack of supply, the government just disposed of over 71,000 kilos of its "smuggled" counterparts in Zamboanga City.
According to the state-owned Philippine News Agency, Saturday, that the abovementioned were buried Saturday at the Department of Agriculture Research Center compound in Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga City.
LOOK: Some 71,000 kilos of smuggled onions are buried at the Department of Agriculture Research Center compound in Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan, Zamboanga City on Saturday (Feb. 4, 2023). l via Teofilo Garcia Jr./Photo: RMN-Zamboanga pic.twitter.com/9pkGgwokrc
— Philippine News Agency (@pnagovph) February 4, 2023
The said smuggled products were disposed since the following "cannot be consumed" as they reportedly did not undergo safety inspections, which could possibly pose risks to consumers.
All in all, it formed over 12,000 bags seized during various operations launched by law enforcement agencies in the past weeks.
Last January 25, the Bureau of Customs Port of Zamboanga seized P18.6 million worth of smuggled onions aboard a vessel in Brgy. Ayala, Zamboanga City.
Among the confiscated were 5,611 mesh bags of imported red onions and 2,249 mesh bags of imported white onion. The contrabands were loaded in a vessel marked "MV Princess Nurdisza" which reported came from Taganak, Tawi-Tawi bound for Brgy. Baliwasan, Z.C.
Meanwhile, the same BOC-Port of Zamboanga also intercepted around P9.49 million worth of imported fresh red onions on two separate operations after being loaded inside two watercrafts in Zamboanga City.
The operations occured on January 22 and 23, the first one concerning a motorized wooden watercraft marked as "TIMZZAN" carrying P2.59 million worth of onions and the second one aboard a vessel named MJ MARISSA carrying over P6.89 million worth of the same agricultural goods.
According to DA's price monitoring last Friday, local red onions current go as high as P310 per kilo.
This is already an improvement from the prices last December when the said ingredient, a staple in the Filipino cuisine, breached to over P720 per kilo. In the past months, onions sold in the Philippines have become the most expensive in the world.
All of which are happening now that the country experiences the fastest increase in prices of commodity in over 14 years. — James Relativo
- Latest
- Trending
