Believe it or not.

[Onemore52]

Yesterday I went shopping looking for onions to cook a favourite recipe of mine "Chicken a La King" a dish I learnt while I was in the Navy, one of the key ingredients,is onions and of course chicken.

Onions are nowhere to be found, as one shopkeeper told me, it is like trading in Gold bullion I have to be certified to sell onions, and I don't have  a certificate.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Onemore52
Omissions

[Mike J]

They can cost up to 600 peso per kilo if/when you can find them.  Here is one of several articles that talk about why there is a shortage.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/1/11/High-prices-of-onions-in-PH-explainer.html?%3F

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) — In the Philippines, a kilogram of onion is about two to three times more expensive than chicken and pork. Why is the price of onion so high?

Here are reasons.

Low supply
Basic economics tells us that when the quantity demanded is greater than the supply, the price will rise. This is the case for onions in the Philippines.

Last August, the Department of Agriculture (DA) already warned that the onion supply was dwindling and it would be insufficient to meet the demand.

Farm industry group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) earlier said importation of onions would solve the supply problem, but it would also result in oversupply by January 2023 if the government’s decision would come late.

“Dapat nag-angkat na tayo ngayon. If hindi tayo umangkat after 10 days pa baka mag-spill over na ito by January, hindi na makakatulong ito,“ SINAG president Rosendo So told CNN Philippines’ The Final Word in December.

[Translation: We have to import now. If we don’t, after 10 days, it might spill over by January and this will not help.]

Oversupply of onions will result in steep drop in prices, which may be good for consumers but devastating for local farmers.

Smugglers and cartels
As the demand for onions remains high, illegal traders take the opportunity to offer it at sky-high prices.

DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban earlier said the agency suspects that a syndicate is hoarding red onions, causing the price of the commodity to rise. 

Over the past weeks, authorities have confiscated smuggled onions valued at tens of millions of pesos, which leads to officials pointing at illegal trading as the main cause of the price hike.

Price manipulation
The price of onion reached as high as ₱800 per kilogram last December.

Authorities suspected big companies changed the retail prices to keep up with competitor costs. A House resolution was earlier filed to open investigation into the soaring onion price.

“There are reasons to believe that there is an ongoing control and manipulation of onion prices from farmgate to market retail by big traders, who store onions in cold storage warehouses,” read House Resolution No. 673.

The DA then set the suggested retail price (SRP) for red onions at ₱250 per kilogram. The agency also monitors the markets to see if the SRP is being implemented.

External forces
Another reason is the global inflation due to a number of factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war, extreme weather-caused disasters, and supply chain snags that put a strain on costs of food anywhere.

Filipinos dealt with higher prices during the holidays, with vegetable prices in December at their highest since February 1999, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa noted that onion prices made up 0.3 percentage points of the 8.1% hike in consumer prices.

What now?
To address the supply issues, the DA imported onions despite the warning that it may result in oversupply.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also the Agriculture secretary, has approved the importation of 21,060 metric tons of onions, fewer by a thousand MT recommended by the DA. 

Authorities also launched probes into smuggling and cartels after lawmakers filed resolutions against illegal trading.

DA officials will also be investigated in relation to the soaring prices of red and white onions in the market, the Office of the Ombudsman said.

[Gator]

I bought some red onions the other day at a local veggie shop. There weren’t many left and the ones I got would not have been my first pick if there more to choose from.  350 pesos per kg too! 

[Onemore52]

Mike J, thanks for sharing that news, and I just read where the authorities are investigating whether there is any corruption going on, or not.

Certainly another file to to be added to “ believe it or not” 

[Freebie]

My favourite non onion requiring dish.. Mapo Tofu......wonderfully spicy and basically only requires ground pork ( which is 1/3 the price of onions !) garlic, szechuan peppercorns, chicken stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar , sugar, chili powder and fermented soy bean paste and soft tofu. . Hundreds of recipes for it on YouTube. Really easy to make and not a single overpriced onion required. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

Im shocked that people here do not read the news. Onions have been an issue for over six months. Yes very expensive and often not available.  Just last week  I went to Army/navy for a beef roll. Sir, is it OK no Onion and bell pepper?  Still cost me the same price after agreeing.

But honestly don't people living here or visiting long term ever read anything to know what's going on?  

Around Christmas, at  the supermarket these tiny red onions were 700 a kilo, a day later none at all were available

But anyway onions have been an issue for quite a while so nothing new here..

[Snowy79]

Currently sitting at 600 peso and 700 peso per kg on Boracay depending where you go. For an easy to grow vegetable it's crazy money. I can see locals growing their own and prices crashing. 

[Onemore52]

27 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Im shocked that people here do not read the news. Onions have been an issue for over six months. Yes very expensive and often not available.  Just last week  I went to Army/navy for a beef roll. Sir, is it OK no Onion and bell pepper?  Still cost me the same price after agreeing.

But honestly don't people living here or visiting long term ever read anything to know what's going on?  

Around Christmas, at  the supermarket these tiny red onions were 700 a kilo, a day later none at all were available

But anyway onions have been an issue for quite a while so nothing new here..

I do not read the news because of all the political garbage on the tv and then all the advertising, I would rather go outside and throw balls to the dogs.

So JGF everyone to their own.

[fillipino_wannabe]

Probably because the government is trying to enforce a 250 SRP now. I doubt the sellers fancy buying onions for 5-600 and selling them for 250 lol.

[JJReyes]

The Philippines prides itself as a strong agriculture producer.

We used to export rice, now we import rice.  We used to export sugar, now we import sugar.  Now it's onions.  Maybe garlic is next.

See all those coconut trees?  They were planted more or less during the same time period when there was a global demand for copra.  After 80 or 90 years, the trees become senile - meaning, they stop producing nuts.  Soon the Philippines may have to import copra to produce vegetable oil.