The Bureau of Plant Industry denied on Saturday the reported smuggled onions from Holland are flooding markets in Cagayan de Oro and stressed that nearly all available supplies are coming from Luzon.

In a report to BPI director Gerard Glenn Panganiban, Arnold Dela Cruz Jr., officer-in-charge and regional manager of BPI Region X, said investigations and market monitoring by various offices of the Department of Agriculture disproved claims that rampant smuggling of onion in Cagayan de Oro has depressed prices. He said the regional office continuously monitors markets in the area in collaboration with the DA Regional Field Office and AMAS.

Dela Cruz said price monitoring on Thursday in various markets in Cagayan de Oro City showed wholesale prices of red onion—both local and imported—were between P50 and P65 a kilo while imported white onion are sold for P65 to P70 per kilo. Retail price per kilo of local red onion was between P90 and P170, imported red onion was at P100 while imported white onion was priced between P90 and P180 per kilo, he added.

Farm gate price of onion in Luzon, the primary source of onion supply, reportedly stood at P 35-55 range in January 2024.

The BPI report said data from the Plant Quarantine Office also showed a total of 307.1 metric tons of local red onion and 17.6 metric tons of imported white onion arrived in seaports and airport of Cagayan de Oro City in January. Meanwhile, a total of 302.8 metric tons of local red onion arrived in the city in February, the report showed.

“These local and import onions were sourced from Manila, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, and Nueva Ecija,” dela Cruz reported.

He said imported onion from China arrived via the Port of Davao in December, transported by land to Cagayan de Oro City, and kept in a warehouse. He added that 9.66 metric tons still remain due to slow demand for imported allium. These were based on the domestic plant quarantine permits issued by BPI.

Panganiban said the BPI sought the assistance of the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Customs to step up monitoring and verification if there are indeed smuggled onions that found their way to Cagayan de Oro City.

The BPI NPQSD has been regularly monitoring Cagayan de Oro City and other parts of the country to determine the situation in public markets and cold storage facilities.

Meanwhile, representatives of DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council recently met with the private sector to facilitate support for cold storage and credit assistance for onion growers. The DA RFO's High-Value Crops Program has also successfully initiated the “onion derby” in collaboration with seed companies to find the best onion seeds to plant around the area.