Robredo: Peso plunge alarming; to affect jobs, poor

BACOLOD CITY – Vice President Leni Robredo described as “alarming” the plunge of the peso to its weakest level against the dollar in 12 years.

“It is alarming because of how fast and how low the plunge has been, we need an explanation on why this has happened,” said Robredo, who was in Bacolod City for the launching of the Istorya ng Pag-Asa (Story of Hope) photo exhibit.

The peso on Wednesday plunged to P53.23 to the dollar.

“A thorough study is needed to determine why this is happening because a lot of jobs will be affected and the people, especially the poor, will no longer be able to afford their daily needs,” she said.

“We have been saying for a long time now that it is time to determine what is causing this, because we need to arrest the weakening of the peso at the soonest possible time,” she said.

If this continued, Robredo said it would not just be about the Philippine peso’s performance in the international scene, but its effect on the daily lives of the ordinary Filipino.

Asked if the plunge was due to lack of investor confidence in the country, Robredo said there are a lot of factors and speculations on what caused the plunge but it is the administration that is in the best position to give a proper explanation.

“It will be more difficult if we just speculate, ” she said.