Government claims that it met inflation targets are not convincing for workers and ordinary Filipinos who feel the increase in prices of basic goods and in payments for basic services. We call on the government to take decisive action against these price and payment hikes.

In early January, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr government claimed that the country met its 2-4% inflation target for December 2024. The 2.9% December 2024 inflation rate is less than the 3.9% December 2023 inflation rate. The 2024 inflation rate of 3.2% is also lower than the 2023 inflation rate of 6%.

Despite this, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Consumer Expectations Survey, published in the 4^th Quarter of 2024, shows that Filipino households are expecting to feel faster inflation and a weaker peso in the 1^st Quarter of 2025. A BSP Research Academy discussion paper says that Filipinos are inclined to spend more on essential goods when they expect an increase in inflation.

Nothing less than the prices of rice and fuel, basic goods in the country, are increasing. No less than 63 goods are expected to increase their prices starting in February, and fares for the MRT and LRT are also being hiked.

The cost of living crisis continues and workers and ordinary Filipinos continue to suffer. The government should think outside the box in order to give Filipinos some immediate, if not long-term, relief.

For example, Marcos Jr decided to cut tarrifs on rice imports from 35% to 15% in July 2023, prompting the Department of Agriculture to claim that the maximum suggested retail price for rice will be reduced to PhP 55 by February 5 and to PhP 49 by March.

The government continues to work with supposed market solutions to problems in rice supply, instead of boosting the country’s agricultural production and productivity. Agriculture has been declining as a proportion of the country’s GDP, and this should be addressed by the government, given the countrys’s dependence on agricultural products.

The government should also look into suspending the 12% Value Added Tax on petroleum and other basic products. It should at the very least suspend the MRT-LRT fare hike, which comes at a time of suffering among workers and ordinary Filipinos.

While the government should exert greater efforts to lower prices and other expenses for workers and ordinary Filipinos, the price hikes highlight the need for a significant increase in the minimum wage being received by the country’s workers. High prices are surely further chipping away at the value of workers’ wages.