Rookie lawmaker Erwin Tulfo wants a meager P1 budget for the "useless" Bureau of Plant Industry for failing to exercise its monitoring power over the supply of onions in the Philippine market, reportedly subject anew to hoarding and price manipulation.

"This BPI is so useless. Don't give this a budget. Just give it maybe five cents. You guys are not doing your job…. Might as well, we will give you a P1 budget," Tulfo said during the House Committee on Agriculture and Food probe into the possible hoarding of onion in the country.

The congressional probe, which had previously concluded in May, reopened anew following reports that the commodity's price is being manipulated through hoarding activities.

The probe was triggered by the agricultural produce shortage, primarily in onions, which saw prices reaching as high as P500 to P700 per kilo in the last quarter.

The BPI, under the Department of Agriculture, was on the receiving end of the panel's wrath due to its failure to effectively mitigate the persistent surge in the price of onions nationwide.

Tulfo quizzed the BPI on why they "cannot do anything" to cease the unscrupulous scheme despite possessing the jurisdiction to oversee or monitor cold storage facilities and ascertain if there is indeed an onion supply shortage.

"The oversight committee was even better when Congress stepped up. So we'll just do your work and don't give you a budget. What is the use of the department?" Tulfo said.

He emphasized that the price of onion only went down after the members of the House led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez toured the markets.

"It took the oversight committee of Congress and it is not the job of Congress to go round and round to do your job. Mr. Chair, this should be the work of the BPI, and it's the responsibility of the BPI to do that," Tulfo added. "We wouldn't be here today if government agencies had just done their jobs. Something is lacking here.

Contrary to the claims, BPI officer-in-charge division chief Sheree Samala told the panel that they monitored cold storage and also had a consultation meeting with the farmers involved.

"As we've mentioned during past hearings, we also conducted monitoring in our cold storages and also had a consultation meeting with our farmers. And we requested that the local supply be released first and they agreed and committed that there would still be supply throughout last year in November and December," Samala told lawmakers.

Moreover, Samala admitted that the drop in the onion supply had been observed, but proposals were also considered to meet the necessary demand by importation.

"We allow farmers as to their claim that they would be able to supply… at the time of November," she said.

Tulfo was clearly not buying the BPI's assertion, as he remained steadfast in his position that there would be no congressional probe if there were no supply shortages due to hoarding and that the agency did its part.

"If you monitor the cold storage, thousands of sacks are there. We know that's why we're here because there is hoarding Mr. Chair. There is hoarding, so the price has increased. If you are monitoring, it will not reach there. If you have anticipated, then you have given the directive to the traders to release the supply," he stressed.

Echoing Tulfo, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga likewise chided the BPI for failing to take swift action to cease hoarding and price manipulation.

Barzaga said suppliers would buy the onions at an earlier date but would only release them in the market when the supply is depleted, causing the prices of the commodity to soar.

"You have to tell us honestly. You hide it. That we have DA Circular No. 1. And under that circular or administrative order, the BPI has the right…you also have the power to regulate the cold storage facilities," he said.

According to Barzaga, the BPI can impose the necessary sanctions, given that it has the power to regulate.

Several supermarket firms, namely Puregold, Robinsons, Gaisano Mall, and Powerplant Mall, who could have shed light in the onion probe, were subpoenaed by the panel due to their no-show.