As the country faces an onion crisis, a looming threat in local garlic was reported as the Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed a shortage in supply.

With only a small supply and insufficient stock in cold storage, a DA officer suggested importation as a solution.

“Kung may problema sa supply dahil malaki ang demand, talagang ang takbuhan natin is importation,” DA-Region 1 Information Officer Vida Cacal said.

In the department's monitoring, locally harvested garlic is not available in the market and only imported garlic was bought ranging from P90 to P140 per kilo, less than local harvest costing P260 to P300 per kilo.