Not a joke: Filipinos can pay with onions at this Manila furniture store

From becoming the 'new chocolates' for overseas Filipinos to being used in a bridal bouquet and wedding souvenirs, the evolution of onions in the Southeast Asian country doesn't seem to end.

Now, Filipinos can use the prized vegetable to pay for household items.

A home store in Manila announced on Thursday that it will be accepting onions as payment on February 4.

In a Facebook post, Japan Home Centre (JHC) said their customers can get one item with one piece of onion. This payment, however, will apply only to selected goods and a maximum of three items.

The option will be available at the centre's branch in Quezon City in northeast Manila.

Here's the advisory from the store: ('Sibuyas' is the Filipino word for onion.)

The Philippines has been making headlines for all things onion since the beginning of the year after the price of the humble vegetable hit a whopping Dh40 per kg, becoming more expensive than meat and chicken. Onion prices in the country are now dropping as imports start coming in.

Wondering what the home centre will be doing with all the onions it will get?

"All collected onions will be used in our community pantry," JHC said in the post. In the Philippines, a community pantry is a place where the less fortunate can take items they need for free.

• Onions in Philippines ‘the most expensive in the world’; here’s why