From salads to stews, onions are a staple in almost every Filipino dish, but now this vegetable costs nearly three times as much as chicken in the Philippines, expats in the UAE are taking suitcases full of onions to their home country, local media reported.
Red and white onions sold for as much as 500 Philippine pesos (Rs 737) per kilogram on Wednesday, January 11, compared to 220 pesos (Rs 295) per kilogram for chicken.
Until Monday, January 9, red and white onions were being sold for as high as 600 Philippine pesos (Rs 885) per kilogram.
Filipino residents buy onions from the UAE at 1.50 Dirham (Rs 33) per kg to take on their next trip home.
Filipinos who recently returned home for the holidays say onions are the new chocolate. Today, giving red onions to family and friends as gifts is as sentimental as giving them the best chocolate bars.
As per a report by Khaleej Times, Jaze, who travelled to Manila in December with 10 kilograms of onions in her luggage, said her friends and relatives were grateful to her when she gifted them onions and garlic from Dubai.
“I told friends and relatives that I could give them only onions and garlic from Dubai as I wasn’t able to shop for other things. They were grateful for it! Considering the unbelievable prices of onions back home, they were very happy to get some for free,” Khaleej Times quoted Dubai resident Jaze as saying.
Filipinos posted pictures of bags full of onions on social media, with comments about the cheaper price of the vegetable in other parts of the world.
