Onions are smuggled and married in the Philippines – that’s behind it In Israel, there are still about 150,000 Holocaust survivors

onions instead of flowers. A Filipino couple poses with this on their wedding day on January 21, 2023. Did they want to save money and not spend money on flowers?

On the contrary: onions are a rare commodity in the Philippines and insanely expensive by local standards. At the end of December, you had to pay up to 720 pesos (equivalent to CHF 12) per kilo of onions in the capital Manila. By comparison, the daily minimum wage in the capital is between 533 and 570 pesos (ie between 9 and 9.60 francs). So if you can get your hands on onions, you own a luxury property.

The price has since dropped again, but onions still cost two to three times as much as meat. A disaster for the Asian island nation, the vegetables can be found in almost every Filipino dish. Many restaurants have had to remove the ingredient from their menus. One person on Twitter wrote that onions are also virtually non-existent in supermarkets:

The Agriculture Ministry warned last August that onion supply was shrinking and would soon be insufficient to meet demand.

However, it is still not entirely clear why exactly prices have shot up. Farmers’ associations and experts cite various reasons for the onion crisis: demand has increased enormously after the pandemic, for example. In addition, the country was hit by two particularly violent storms this year, which caused major crop damage. The government also suspects that a criminal organization is artificially making onions scarce in order to manipulate the price. This allows the smuggling of the suddenly valuable goods to flourish.

Onion smuggling is flourishing

Illegal traders are taking advantage of the continuing high demand to offer the onions at shocking prices. They are smuggled into the country in large quantities. On December 21, customs authorities discovered two containers full of smuggled onions in the port of Cagayan de Oro, on the second largest island in the Philippines – they were hidden behind bread and pastries. The two containers weighed 50,000 kilograms and contained onions estimated to be worth the equivalent of 338,456 Swiss francs.

At the beginning of the month, 10 Philippine Airlines crew members also tried their luck: they filled their luggage with almost 40 kg of onions and fruit, but were caught by customs.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines, who declared himself Secretary of Agriculture upon taking office, announced this month that he would import 21,060 tons of onions. The first shipment arrived this week.

Many farmers complain too late. The harvest season is now starting for them. Nevertheless, the government hopes to counter smuggling and high costs by importing onions. (Sat)