More counter-inflation measures urged

MANILA, Philippines — More counter-inflation measures should be set in place amid projections that the rate of price increase may have reached more than seven percent this month from 6.4 percent in August, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said yesterday.

One of the steps the government should take, Salceda said, is to expedite the distribution of cash assistance to the poor through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program.

He said the DSWD and Department of Education should intensify their feeding programs, while the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment and Natural Resources should ramp up their projects intended to help poor families.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Department of Economic Research (DER) said on Friday that inflation may have reached more than seven percent in September amid rising oil and food prices in the aftermath of Typhoon Ompong.

Salceda said he welcomed President Duterte’s decision to scrap non-tariff restrictions on importations to facilitate the entry of foreign products into the country.

But Salceda said he would have preferred that the administration heeded the suggestion of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other House leaders for the lifting of tariff on imported food items.

He said inflation is an “existential threat to development since it would increase the number of poor people and worsen hunger, thus causing higher malnutrition, which in turn results in higher stunting rate that deprives our youth of their physical and mental potentials.”

He said the poorest regions in the country were hard-hit by inflation, or the rate of increase in prices of goods and services.

He cited the case of Albay and the rest of the Bicol region, where price hikes reached nine percent in August against the national average of 6.4 percent.

Bicol recorded the highest inflation among regions, with prices of vegetables rising by 27 percent, fish by 20 percent, corn by 17 percent and rice by 12.5 percent, Salceda said.

He said the National Food Authority should unload more imported rice and increase its palay procurement during the harvest season beginning next month.             

Earlier, BSP’s DER said inflation for September would range from 6.3 to 7.1 percent and settle at around a fresh nine-year high of 6.8 percent from 6.4 percent in August.

The last time inflation touched the seven percent level was in April 2009 at 7.2 percent.

“Higher domestic petroleum prices, higher prices of rice and other agricultural commodities due to Typhoon Ompong and the peso depreciation contributed to the upside price pressures for the month,” the BSP said.

Latest data from the Department of Agriculture said agriculture damage caused by the typhoon soared to P27 billion, the highest since Typhoon Yolanda that battered the country in 2013.

The peso, meanwhile, pierced the 54 to $1 level this month due to stronger demand for US dollars as the country imported capital equipment, raw materials and intermediate goods to support economic growth.

The sharp rise, the BSP explained, could be partly offset by the downward adjustment in power rates by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

“Looking ahead, the BSP will continue to remain on guard to evolving inflationary conditions to ensure that the monetary policy stance remains consistent with our price stability mandate,” the BSP said.

Meanwhile, the government has ordered a price freeze in the Cordillera Administrative Region now under “a state of calamity” as declared by President Duterte.

President Duterte signed Proclamation No. 593 earlier this month placing CAR, Regions 1, 2 and 3 under state of calamity due to the devastation caused by Typhoon Ompong. – With Lawrence Agcaoili, Artemio Dumlao