菲律宾当局表示，他们已对六家公司处以17.6亿比索（约合2790万美元、2100万英镑）的罚款，这些公司组成了一个“洋葱卡特尔”，导致洋葱价格飙升。
Filipino authorities say they have fined six companies 1.76 billion pesos ($27.9m; £21m) for forming an "onion cartel" that caused the price of the vegetable to skyrocket.
2022年，作为菲律宾家庭厨房必备食材的洋葱价格飙升至每公斤800比索的历史高位，超过了该国的最低日工资标准，甚至超过了肉类价格。
In 2022 the price of onions, a staple of Philippine kitchens, surged to a record 800 pesos per 1kg, surpassing the country's daily minimum wage and overtaking the price of meat.
这场危机给当时新当选的费迪南德·马科斯总统带来了巨大压力，因为他曾承诺要抑制食品价格的上涨。
The crisis put pressure on then newly-elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who had promised to bring down surging food prices.
菲律宾竞争委员会（PCC）周三宣布，对这几家公司的罚款是该委员会自2016年成立以来开出的最高额罚款。这些公司包括洋葱进口商以及储存和运输企业。
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said Wednesday the fine against the companies, comprised of onion importers and storage and shipping firms, was the largest since its formation in 2016.
从2022年底到2023年初的几个月里，洋葱几乎从餐厅菜单上消失了，还成为了走私的目标。这种球茎类蔬菜甚至成为了一种身份象征——至少有一次被用作婚礼花束。
For months between late 2022 to early 2023, onions disappeared from restaurant menus and became the object of smuggling attempts. The bulbous vegetable even became something of a status symbol, having been used on at least one occasion as a wedding bouquet.
为缓解短缺问题，当局批准紧急进口洋葱；马科斯总统誓言要追究幕后黑手的责任，称“由于他们的行为，有些菲律宾人正因饥饿和贫困而死亡”。
Authorities approved the emergency import of onions and Marcos vowed to go after those behind the shortage, saying there were "Filipinos dying from starvation and poverty because of what they are doing".
随着2023年末当地洋葱丰收上市，价格终于趋于稳定，这场危机得以结束。
The crisis ended as local bumper harvests entered the market later in 2023 and prices stabilised.
一个负责调查价格危机的议会委员会指出，洋葱价格的异常上涨是由一个垄断组织（卡特尔）所为。
A parliamentary committee tasked to investigate the price crisis said a cartel was behind the "artificial" surge in onion prices.
PCC表示，在对相关公司的突击检查中发现的证据显示，这六家公司共同控制了2020年和2021年所有洋葱进口许可的近50%。委员会称，这些公司参与了“进口、冷藏及批发分销过程中的非法市场操纵行为”。
The PCC said evidence retrieved during raids on the companies showed that the six firms had collectively controlled nearly 50% of all approved import clearances for onions in 2020 and 2021. The companies were involved in an "illegal market allocation scheme in the importation, cold storage, and whole sale distribution", the commission said.
PCC强调，这笔巨额罚款体现了“让所有经济领域的垄断组织承担责任的决心”，以及“保护消费者免受反竞争行为危害的决心”。委员会还表示，违法者也可能被司法部提起刑事诉讼。
The hefty fine shows a "commitment to holding cartels accountable across all sectors of the economy and protecting consumers from the harmful effects of anti-competitive conduct", the PCC said. The commission also said that offenders may also be criminally prosecuted by the Department of Justice.