00:00Now just outside the Pampanga capital, authorities have seized over 1.7 million paces worth of smuggled white onions
00:09only to discover that they are contaminated with salmonella.
00:13Now the Department of Agriculture, or DA, is warning the public,
00:17think twice before buying those unusually large onions.
00:22As our Noel Talacay tells us more.
00:24Inside these two trailer trucks parked in front of Pampanga capital
00:31are more than 3,000 sacks of smuggled white onion from China with an estimated worth of 1.7 million pesos.
00:40According to the report of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of Pampanga,
00:45it entered from Subic Port but was entrapped or caught in Mexico, Pampanga on April 26 this year.
00:52Yung naka-declared po sa document niya ay chicken karagi chips.
00:57So frozen meat yung nakalagay doon.
01:01Pero yung karga ng truck nila is sibuyas po.
01:05Agriculture Secretary Francisco Chu Laurel Jr. personally inspected the stash this morning.
01:11Maybe these sacks of onions look good on the surface and up close, but the secretary revealed,
01:17Ang masama dito ay positive siya for microbiologicals, may salmonella.
01:22Since these sacks of onions are not for consumption due to salmonella contamination,
01:27the DA will instead dispose of them.
01:30The agency also speculates that some of these sacks of onions have already proliferated in the public market
01:36and have been distributed in Divisoria, Manila, and some public markets in Central Luzon,
01:41according to the report of the PNPCIDG.
01:44The DA secretary underscores that his agency did not issue any permit for imported white onions
01:50since the country still has enough supply of onions.
01:53He also stresses his office and the PNPCIDG will do everything in their power
01:59to hold into account all persons involved in this smuggling incident.
02:03Based on the latest daily price monitoring,
02:05the current price of onions ranges from P90 up to P160 per kilo depending on size and quality.
02:13From PTV Manila, Noel Talakay, Balitang Pambansa.
