‘P150 per kilo of onion impossible’

MANILA, Philippines — It is “impossible” for sellers to comply with the P150-per-kilo suggested retail price (SRP) for red onions and P140 per kilo for white onions, a vendor said yesterday, stressing that retailers buy the bulbs at higher wholesale prices.

In an interview with The STAR, vendor Julieta Presto noted that she sources onions from Balintawak Market in Quezon City at a wholesale price of P155 per kilo – higher than the P150-per-kilo SRP for red ones.?“We purchase our onions (both red and white) at P155 per kilo at Balintawak Market and we normally sell them between P170 and P180 per kilo,” Presto said.

She was reacting to the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s decision to implement the SRP amid the spike in retail prices after they reached as high as P200 per kilo.

“According to the wholesaler, they spend for storage fees that is why the wholesale price of onions increased,” she said.

Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) president Rosendo So backed the imposition of the P150-per-kilo SRP for red onions and P140 per kilo for white onions as he encouraged consumers not to patronize retailers selling beyond the SRP.

“Consumers should not buy from vendors selling more than P150 per kilo,” So said.