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Representative Image: Image Courtesy: @PhilippineStar
New Delhi: In the inflation-hit Philippines, where onions cost three times as much as chicken and about 25 percent more than beef, expats in the UAE are doing what seems the smartest: packing the staple vegetable into a suitcase and taking it home.
In a Dubai supermarket, onions are selling for as little as 2 dirhams ($0.54) a kilo — a far cry from domestic retail prices, which fetch as much as 600 pesos ($10.93) a kilo.
Red onions fetch as much as 600 pesos ($10.93) per kilogram in the Philippines, roughly three times the price of chicken at about 25 pesos per kilogram, according to retail prices of agricultural products tracked by the Department of Agriculture through Jan. 9, 2023. It costs a penny more than beef.
Filipinos who have recently returned home for the holidays say onions are the new chocolate. Now, gifting red onions to family and friends is as sentimental as giving them the best chocolate bar.
“This is the best home gift ever,” harrij times To quote Jaze, a Dubai resident.
Jaze, who traveled to Manila in December with 10kg of onions, said her friends and relatives were grateful when she sent them onions and garlic from Dubai.
“I told friends and family that I could only give them onions and garlic from Dubai because I couldn’t buy anything else. They were so grateful for it! Considering the unbelievable price of onions back home, they were happy to get them for free Some,” she was quoted as saying.
Dubai Administrator Dina Gacula Odo also brought back 4kg of onions, saying that it has become common for Filipinos to bring home onions in their luggage.
“While I was waiting at the gate for my flight, many of the other Filipinos I flew with were talking about all the onions in their luggage. It’s common now,” Dina, who traveled on Dec. 30, was quoted as saying Khaleej era.
The expatriates reportedly had no problems with Philippine customs authorities upon arrival at the airport, but there were concerns over whether they would be allowed to carry the staple food after officials confiscated it from one of the travelers.
Philippine imported onions
Due to the soaring prices, the Philippines now plans to import 22,000 tons of onions to increase domestic supply.
The import proposal was reached during a meeting of the Agriculture Ministry’s executive committee and will be recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos, who also serves as agriculture minister, for approval, Bloomberg The report quoted department assistant secretary Rex Estopérez as saying on Sunday.
The report quoted Estoperez as saying the proposed purchase “will last for a month and drive down prices.” “We cannot stand idly by because one of the drivers of inflation is the price of onions,” Estopérez added.
Estoperez said the purchase would be a “temporary solution” and no further imports were currently planned.
Once approved, the Agriculture Department expects the proposed imports to arrive no later than the first week of February.
The country consumes about 17,000 tons of onions per month.
Half of the planned imports will be distributed across the main island of Luzon, while the rest will be shipped to the Visayas and Mindanao, Estoperez said.
According to the opinion of the institution
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