The Garlic Diaries

by Isa Agawin

It was not only a local issue; it was a national crime that stirred up the whole nation. Who knew innocent garlic cloves could cause a government controversy and awaken the beast of corruption?

“Medyo wala gyud mi nabuhat sa mga presyo,” said a middle-aged garlic vendor in Cogon who by the name he wants to be known as Tonyo. “Alang, kung di namo pasakaon ang mga presyo, kami man sad ang luoy. Nagkagubot lagi ang mga tao tungod sa kagrabe lagi kamahal atong ni-agi pero wala na man sad mi mangabuhat diba?”

A hike for the price

Since early 2014, it was said that the garlic supply in the Philippines was limited. The shifting of the prices from Php 100.00 reached up to Php 287.06 per kilo in June 2014. The price increase jumped up to 74% within that year, more or less a total of 100% increase on all prices. It only did not affect the Luzon region, but the other islands as well.

There are many assumptions and theories raised during the height of the issue. According to 10minutes.ph, low-pressure areas (LPA) may be one of the causes of the shortage of the garlic supply due to the dampening of the crops in the warehouses. But according to news sources, one of the members of the Senate, Sen. Cynthia Villar, is looking at the actual manipulation of the prices of the garlic.

Garlic chain

Garlic, is mainly produced in the Ilocos region, but often times the Philippines imports garlic from neighboring Asian countries like China. 73% of garlic supplies come from imports and only 27% are produced locally. However, there is a proper chain to the production of garlic in the Philippines, along with other crops the country exports or imports products.

According to the discussion paper of Roehlano M. Briones on the Compilation and Synthesis of Major Agricultural Value Chain Analysis in the Philippines, Kaplinsky and Morris (2000) define a value chain as follows: "The value chain describes the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), delivery to final consumers, and final disposal after use." In other words, if there is some sort of interruption or intervention in the chain, the full operation of production cannot be achieved.

The value chain goes through a systematic process. First, the provisions of outputs are laid, which will be taken cared of by the specific input providers. This is followed by the production by the primary producers; after that is the transformation, which will be handled by logistics centers and/or the industry. Trade and the final sale by point or the retailer ends the value chain. The importation process, however, requires an import permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Looking back

Based on the study of Briones, it is found that the value of output of crops in the Philippines back in 2011 reached up to Php 804, 089, 000.00. Garlic was one of the lowest ranks among the crops only reaching an output value of Php 916,000.00. But these results do not exactly indicate that there is a shortage of supply on garlic. Dr. Rey H. Cinco, O.D. and an Agricultural Economist pointed out that there is a deeper reason why the prices of the garlic for the past year may have rapidly increased.

When asked if hoarding was the main reason for the price hike, Dr. Cinco replied “Gi hatag nila [the garlic supply] sa certain favored group. Isa ra ka grupo ang gi tagaan nila sa authority to import, labi na to ang garlic ug onion. Dili to siya hoarding, gi corner nila ang market.”

Dr. Cinco explained that the price hike involved the basic economic logic of supply and demand. “If you are the sole importer, ikaw mag dictate sa price sa market, wala may lain na stock. That is why mu saka ang price. Kung ang imong normal price of a certain commodity mu change ang iyahang supply, natural, the same demand mu saka ang number of supply mu daghan, natural mu baba ang price kay ma clot ang market. Pero kung mu wala ang iyahang supply ang imong demand mao ra gihapon, natural ang imong price mu saka kay wala may supply. Dr. Cinco also pointed out some issues in the past related to basic commodities being hoarded or cornered, like the issue on rice supply where a kilo may shoot up to Php 80.00.

“If wala kay lain, willing man ang tao mu palit maskin pa mahal kay wala may supply.” He added. And the people had no choice but to purchase the heavily priced garlic, but the government took action.

Crop justice

After an intense investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Secretary of Justice Leila M. De Lima issued a statement showing the results of the comprehensive evaluation of the issue. It was found that there were no shortage but rather a more than adequate amount of supply was available. Aside from that, most of the ‘import permits’ were only granted to one group, where they cornered the supply and dictated the prices.

It was also discovered that Vegetable Importers, Experts and Venders Association (Vieva Phil. Incorporated), founded by Lilia Cruz aka, Leah Cruz, was behind the sudden and suspicious price hike of the crops. A report completed by the NBI in September 2014 showed that Cruz was able to corne at least 75% of all the garlic imports of the country by finding loopholes in the system.

As a consequence, Lilia Cruz is charged with crimes against monopolies. Former Bureau of Plants Industry is facing bribery charges for allegedly receiving P240 000.00 from Vieva Phil. Incorporated president, Lilybeth Valenzuela. Along through the investigation, the DOJ also found out that the supplies for onions were also manipulated and that the Department of Agriculture have failed to monitor these activities, including stock inventories.

As of writing, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed criminal cases before the Office of the Ombudsman to 119 government officials who are allegedly involved in this crime.

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Actions and further investigation is still ongoing; prices of garlic are back to its normal and affordable price.

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