Cordillera inflation eases further in September

GONG GAMES Students in Baguio City, wearing native Cordillera attire, participate in an indigenous game on Oct. 13 during this year’s Gong Festival, which advocates peace building. The event also served as a thanksgiving program for significant developments in the mountain region, such as its reduced inflation. —Vincent Cabreza

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Inflation in the Cordillera receded further to 1.2 percent last month from 3.4 percent in August, reflecting the stable prices of food, fuel and education services in the region ahead of the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day activities as well as the festive Yuletide when people here are likely to spend more, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The inflation in Baguio City also slowed down to 1.5 percent in September from 2.9 percent in August, which should improve consumption as the summer capital prepares for its peak tourist season that begins in December, the PSA said in a press briefing on Oct. 11.

READ: Cordillera inflation takes major drop

But an analysis of the inflation trends in the mountain region and the Ilocos region in 2023 and the first three quarters of 2024, PSA Cordillera chief statistician Aldrin Federico Bahit Jr. said the prices of commodities in the highland provinces of Ifugao, Benguet, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga and Mountain Province have actually been higher than those in La Union, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan.

“Increased prices of food and the notable increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” accounted for the inflationary spikes from January to September 2024 in the Cordillera compared to the Ilocos, Bahit said.

The inflation in Ilocos region in September was 0.6 percent, which was way down from 1.8 percent in August, due to food prices, PSA records showed.

Cordillera inflation was previously higher than the Ilocos from January to August 2022, but was surpassed by Ilocos inflation from October 2022 to August last year, according to a PSA chart that tracks inflationary trends. Inflation in the mountain region exceeded the Ilocos’ prices again from October last year to September this year.

Last month, food inflation in the Cordillera dropped to a negative 0.3 percent from 4 percent in August. In particular, inflation for rice was 10 percent in September, down from 19 percent in August.

Restaurants and accommodation services had lower inflation in September, with 3.3 percent from August’s 3.7 percent.

Main sources

In Baguio City, the inflation slowdown for restaurants and hotels (4.7 in September from 5.4 in August) was one of its “main sources of deceleration of the September 2024 inflation.”

But upward inflation continued for alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.7 percent last month from 2.6 percent in August), information and communication, or the internet and telecommunications services, as more upland entrepreneurs transacted online (0.9 in September from 0.8 in August), and personal care products (3.9 last month from 3.8 in August).

Mountain Province, an agriculture center with top tourist destinations like Sagada town, had the highest inflation (3.1 in September from 4.9 in August) among the Cordillera provinces.

Ifugao, home to the World Heritage-inscribed Cordiillera Rice Terraces, had the lowest inflation in September at 1.1 percent, from 3.5 in August.