The Department of Agriculture on Tuesday warned the public that those found selling smuggled onions online or in markets will have their permits automatically canceled.

In a radio interview, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the sellers could also face smuggling charges because they did not have a permit to bring in white onions.

"When it's imported and smuggled and when we catch the smugglers, you are included as an accomplice because you were found with evidence," Estoperez said, referring to the smuggled onions.

"If something bad happens to customers, do they (the sellers) have to pay for it? Even though the onions were cheap, the bills from the hospital are more expensive," he added.

Estoperez reminded the people who would buy these onions that the government would not be responsible for what would happen to them if they ate them.

"We want to remind people who bring onions to the market that we are not responsible for what happens to you if you buy or sell illegal onions there," Estoperez said.

To recall, the DA said on Monday that the smuggled onions that authorities caught were not suitable for consumption due to traces of E.scherichia coli, or E.coli bacteria, which causes diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea and infections of the respiratory tract.

Estoperez said the first batch of onions the police took from him was about 100,000 kilos, which will be burned or buried to make compost.