IN a move that is bound to further spice things up, the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday announced that it has initiated an inquiry into what is fueling the increase in the price of onions in local markets.
The anti-corruption body is stepping into the picture as the price increase for onions entered its third month, going as high as P700 per kilo in some supermarkets — nearly thrice what it cost last November.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires said he will ask officials of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the Department of Agriculture to help shed light on why the cost of onions have remained high despite a directive from Malacanang setting the suggested retail price (SRP) at P250 per kilo two weeks ago.
Section 15 (1) of RA 6770 or the Ombudsman Act of 1989 vested the anti-corruption body with the power to “investigate and prosecute on its own” any act by a public officer or government office that it suspects to be “illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient.”
This means the Ombudsman can start an investigation without having to wait for any party to file a complaint.
Expected to be included in the investigation is FTI’s procurement of onions at P537 per kilo that were sold at Kadiwa Centers at only P170 per kilo.
The DA shelled out P140 million for the procurement.
It had earlier aired concern that some unscrupulous businessmen are taking advantage of the government procurement efforts by manipulating the market through hoarding.
This is not the first time the Ombudsman will attempt to peel off the layers of individual traders and groups behind the cartelization of farm produce.
In 2019, Martires approved the indictment of former Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, former Bureau of Plant Industry director Clarito Barron, and 22 others for graft in connection with the artificial increase of garlic for several months in 2014.
Graft investigators said they found evidence of collusion among agriculture officials and some businessmen in an attempt to corner the supply of garlic between January to July 2014.
Also charged with Alcala were former National Quarantine Services Division chiefs Merle Palacpac and Luben Marasigan.
The Ombudsman said the conspiracy started in 2010 with the creation of the National Garlic Action Team (NGAT), a supposed consultative body that gained control over the importation of garlic from other countries
Investigators said players behind NGAT ended up with the lion’s share of import permits, enabling them to dictate the supply as well as the market price.
Among the groups and companies implicated in the garlic cartel investigation were the Vegetable Importers, Exporters and Vendors Association of the Philippines, Inc. (VIEVA), Tumana Trading, R.M. Galvez Agri Trading, Purple Moon Trading, Bee Jee Trading, Tough Down Trading, A.G.R. Trading, La Reina Food Trading, Yom Trading Corporation, Kapisanan ng mga Magsisibuyas ng Nueva Ecija (KASAMNE), Kooperatiba ng Bayang Sagana (KBS), Mindoro Allium Growers Multipurpose Cooperative (MAGRO-MPC), and Shilamarie Enterprises.
