DUBAI – Expats from Philippines currently residing in the United Arab Emirates are flying home with bags full of onions, it has emerged.
Those who fly out of Dubai are expected to bring in chocolates back home but Filipinos have replaced the commodity with onion due to inflation in their home country.
Onions are now more expensive than beef and chicken in inflation-hit Philippines, leaving expats in the UAE with no option than to pack the staple vegetable into a suitcase and bring it home.
The Filipinos who recently traveled back to their homes found it better to gift the onions to the relatives instead of perfumes or chocolates as they could acquire the vegetable for only Dh2 per kilogramme.
In contrast, red onions are now being sold for up to 600 pesos (around Dh40) per kilogramme in Philippines based on the Department of Agriculture’s monitoring of market prices on January 9
What justifies their ‘gifts’ for family members is the fact that beef rump retails for 380 to 480 pesos (Dh25.50 to Dh32) while the price of chicken hovers around 180 to 220 pesos (Dh12 to Dh15).
