AGRICULTURE Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista on Saturday cautioned consumers against buying white onions and meat products online.

In a radio interview, Evangelista said the products being sold online could be smuggled and did not undergo sanitary inspection.

"With the help of our stakeholders, we have been receiving information on the proliferation of agriculture products online. Meat products are being sold frozen, including chicken," Evangelista said.

She added that a separate team was looking into the legality of agricultural products being sold on the internet.

"We are checking how it got into the country. What we want to emphasize is the food safety for our consumers. If you buy a pack of chicken online, you do not know how it was handled," Evangelista said.

Evangelista cited the health implications of mishandled frozen products.

"If frozen products are delivered to you and you place the defrosted items back in the freezer, it has health risks," she said.

Evangelista admitted that smuggled agriculture products continue to proliferate in the market.

"We've seen that there were many cases of misdeclaration. The traders declared the items as toys, but when you open the container, it contains onions," she noted.

Evangelista said that the DA did not allow the importation of the white onions despite the bulbs are no longer available in the wet markets.

"Based on our monitoring, white onions are being sold online. We did not issue permits to import that is why we are looking into this," she said.

The agriculture official said the DA has convinced institutional buyers like restaurants to shift to red onions.

"We spoke with institutional buyers, we are encouraging them to shift to red onions, and there are those who shifted already," she said.

On the other hand, Evangelista said the DA is now looking into the increase in the retail price of red onions in the wet markets.

"Based on the cost structure, the retail prices of red onions could go down to P100 to P100 per kilo and not P140," Evangelista said.

She said that the DA is set to meet with onion farmers and traders to look into the possible implementation of suggested retail price (SRP) for red onions.

"We need to consider if there are trigger points to impose an SRP. We need to conduct a stakeholders' meeting and we are scheduling it this week to be able to find a way to give our consumers an alternative place on the availability of cheaper red onions," she said.

Based on the daily monitoring of the DA, the retail price of red onions ranges from P120 to P150 per kilo while white onions are still unavailable in the wet markets.

A farmers' group, meanwhile, expressed their disgust with Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban for blaming farmers in Batanes over the unsold 25 metric tons of garlic.

Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation (Stop Exploitation) Chairman Antonino Pugyao said Panganiban was insensitive to the plight of the farmers.

"Instead of getting help, what the farmers are getting is an insult from the Department of Agriculture," Pugyao said.

Panganiban has blamed the farmers of Batanes for the unsold 25 metric tons of garlic in the province, saying they keep on planting without considering the market for their products after the provincial government of Batanes said that the stocks will rot if not disposed of immediately.

"Undersecretary Panganiban forgets that he is working for the DA and not as a spokesperson of importers," Pugyao added.

Pugyao added that the DA should instead look into the real problem in the local market, adding that the main issue at hand is the standing policy of the government on the massive importation of crops.

Pugyao said because of the government's policy, local markets are being flooded with imported agricultural products, causing the loss of income of farmers.

"Undersecretary Panganiban also said that the DA is eyeing to bring the produce in Batanes to Ilocos when Ilocos is also a garlic-producing region," he noted.

Earlier, Panganiban said that the farm produce from Batanes needs to be brought to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur so that these can be sold in the markets in Laoag City and in the entire Region 1 (Ilocos).

Pugyao said that the DA should focus on its job and lay concrete solutions to resolve the problem of farmers instead of insulting them.

He said farmers are not expecting to receive help from the DA despite the P163.75 billion proposed 2023 budget of the agency.

"After the sugar fiasco, DA officials are now involved in blame-game contrary to the promise of President Bongbong Marcos to prioritize the agriculture sector," he added.