THE government must aggressively address factors contributing to food inflation or it will be unable to hit its 2.9% inflation target in 2024.
This was stressed by AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee, who on Tuesday said that with food and non-alcoholic beverages being the top group contributing to the June 2023 inflation of 5.4%, government must focus on making food more affordable for consumers in order to continue to slow down inflation.
According to the Bicolano lawmaker, “food and non-alcoholic beverages contribute almost half, or 47.3%, to inflation. While the downward trend of overall inflation was primarily influenced by the slower increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.7% in June 2023, down from 7.4% in the previous month, we should be concerned that in terms of food groups, the inflation rates of rice and vegetables continue to rise.”
Lee, a former businessman whose family-run corporation employs over 3,000 workers, pointed out that the rising prices of commodities like rice and vegetables explains why most Filipino families do not feel the prices of goods going down despite the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announcing five consecutive months of decreasing inflation.
“Tama naman ang datos ni PBBM (President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.) at kung numero lang ang pagbabasehan, the President may have grounds to say that prices are stabilizing,” said Lee.
“Pero sa tingin ko hindi talaga nararamdaman ng karaniwang tao ito. Sa price monitoring mismo ng DA (Department of Agriculture), ang bigas ay binebenta ng P34 to P60 per kilo in June 2023, compared to P38 to P50 per kilo in June 2022, hindi pa bumababa talaga ang presyo,” lamented the solon.
Data from the PSA confirms the steady increases in the prices of rice and vegetables. When broken down by food group, rice and vegetables are the only food groups with rising inflation rates; from 3.4% in May 2023 to 3.6% in June 2023 for rice, and from 12.6% to 12.7% for vegetables, tubers, plantains, and cooking bananas.
“The President said in the SONA (State of the Nation Address) that indicators show that we will be able to keep inflation in 2024 within the government target of 2.9%. Tingin ko improbable ma-hit ang target na ito kung hindi natin tutugunan ang presyo ng mga mahalagang food commodities tulad ng bigas.”
“More importantly, this number will not mean anything to our people if the main commodities they buy—rice and vegetables—remain expensive,” added Lee.
Lee, principal author of House Bill No. 3957 or the “Kadiwa Agri-Food Terminal Act”, said that establishing more Kadiwa centers nationwide is necessary to alleviate the high prices of basic commodities such as rice and vegetables, and to boost agricultural productivity.
“Government also needs to invest more in post-harvest facilities and in measures that will reduce the costs of rice and other produce. Kung kailangan ng gobyerno na gumastos para i-transport ang mga agri products closer to consumers, so be it. Sa murang bigas at gulay, Winner Tayo Lahat; bababa ang inflation at ito ay mararamdaman ng ating mga kababayan.”
