BANTAY Palengke, a consumer organization in the Philippines, expressed support for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) suggested retail prices for onions, but also raised concerns about the implementation process.
The DA recently announced a recommended retail price of P150 per kilo for red onions and P140 per kilo for white onions, which was agreed upon by farmers’ groups and other stakeholders in agriculture.
Lester Codog, the Convenor of Bantay Palengke, welcomed the announcement, but also emphasized the importance of monitoring prices offered by traders to vendors.
He warned that implementing the suggested retail prices would be challenging if it resulted in vendors earning too little or nothing at all.
According to Codog, it will be difficult for vendors to comply with the suggested retail prices if middlemen sell onions at a higher price.
Therefore, measures must be implemented to ensure that the SRP is enforceable for vendors as well.
Codog further said that while consumers want lower prices, the suking tindera (regular vendors) have reported that they cannot lower their prices if traders are not offering better rates.
In order to control the price of onions, it is essential to monitor trading prices as well, according to Codog.
