MANILA, Philippines — Around 25 metric tons of smuggled onions intercepted at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in early June will be destroyed after tests showed contamination with Escherichia coli (E. coli), Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), in its report to the Department of Agriculture (DA), confirmed the presence of E. coli bacteria, which may indicate fecal contamination and pose potential health risks, especially if the onions are consumed raw or undercooked.

“Clearly, these onions aren’t fit for human consumption,” Tiu Laurel said, stressing that the safety of food sold in the Philippines is a priority under the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The contaminated shipment from China, declared as egg noodles and pizza dough, arrived on May 26 and was consigned to Latinx Consumer Goods Trading, a Manila-based company. It was intercepted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the request of the DA-Inspectorate and Enforcement Office and the BPI.

Customs rules mandate the destruction, re-export, or diversion to a third country of contaminated perishable goods.

The seizure is part of the Marcos administration’s intensified crackdown on agricultural smuggling, following recent findings of misdeclared onions and frozen fish at the Port of Manila. The DA has also asked the BOC to withhold the release of 59 container vans in Subic Bay Freeport, also suspected of carrying smuggled agricultural products.

“This is why we are not letting up on our anti-smuggling campaign,” Tiu Laurel said, underscoring the need to protect public health and Filipino farmers through stronger enforcement of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law.