GUT ISSUE Activists rally in September at the Department of Agriculture against rising prices of rice. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Following the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) announcement that inflation rate was steady at 5.1 percent for December 2018 and 5.2 percent on the average for the whole of 2018, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday called on the Duterte administration to produce “tangible results” this year to ease poverty.
Arroyo, in a statement, said the government should rush the implementation of its promised economic programs this year to avoid a repeat of inflation spikes that plagued the country in 2018.
“The government’s agencies must act quickly on the implementation side,” said Arroyo, a former President.
Quick implementation
She said it was important to “get the plans and programs going on the ground and produce results our people will feel in their day-to-day lives.”
“The focus must now be on implementing things quickly and efficiently, on all fronts,” she said.
But an opposition lawmaker, Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin, said while the easing of inflation was a good sign, it was no cause for celebration, as prices of goods were still high compared to previous year’s prices and annual inflation of only 2.7 percent in 2017.
Low wages also constrict the purchasing power of the vast majority of the population who bear the brunt of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law that triggered inflation, he said.
Villarin added that the new round of fuel taxes “will definitely create an inflationary environment.”
“With a big drop in domestic agriculture production and unstable global supply of rice and agricultural products, taming inflation to manageable levels is unlikely,” he said.