Lagman: Duterte apologists deceive Filipinos on high inflation

Apologists for President Rodrigo Duterte have errantly minimized as “not alarming” the impact of the five-year high 5.2 percent inflation rate in June, Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman said Friday.

In a statement, Lagman said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque’s downplaying of the highest inflation rate in five years was “a grand deception.”

“The prescription of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque not to worry about the highest inflation rate in five years because people have more money to spend from additional income tax exemptions under the Tax Reform from Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) (Law) and free tuition fee in public colleges and universities (SUCs) is a grand deception,” he said.

On Thursday, the government reported that the inflation jumped to 5.2 percent in June, due to sustained elevated prices of food and “sin” products.

READ: Inflation hit new over 5-year high of 5.2% in June / Inflation hits 5.2%, exceeds gov’t target

In a news conference, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia claimed that while the June inflation rate was “rather unexpected,” the six-month average inflation rate of 4.3 percent remained “manageable.”

Roque also claimed that the faster inflation rate was “not something to worry about.”

The opposition lawmaker also said the masses who constitute the overwhelming majority of consumers “have not benefitted from the new round of income tax exemptions because lowly-paid workers have long enjoyed tax reliefs.”

For instance, the P200 unconditional cash transfer to poor families monthly under the Train Law is “too minuscule to offset spiraling prices of goods and services,” said Lagman.

The congressman has likewise said the free tuition fee for college education is only a percentage of the total expenses for a college student who has to spend for board and lodging, transportation, meal allowance, and books and instructional materials.

Moreover, since students from well-off families enjoy the same free tuition in SUCs, “they crowd out the ones coming from poor families who are less prepared to pass qualifying entrance examinations,” he added.

“Data also show that there are more students enrolled in private universities and colleges who are not accommodated in SUCs or prefer private education. In 2014, 66% of college students were enrolled in private institutions of higher learning. A similar percentage prevails today,” Lagman noted.

The lawmaker also pointed out that an inflation rate over 2 percent is always problematic because it “stifles the economy even as the already low purchasing power of the poor is further eroded as prices of goods and services, particularly the basic items, continue to skyrocket.”

Higher inflation is also one of the prime barometers of the economy as it “negates growth, devalues the people’s savings both in banks and private vaults, weakens investments, depresses foreign exchange, increases debt service, and reduces the real value of wages,” Lagman further explained. /muf