Former senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said on Tuesday that the government must address the price of food despite the continued deceleration of the country’s inflation rate.
Pangilinan said that the daily minimum wage of common Filipinos can buy so much food and it still does not include utility expenses.
“Bumaba ang inflation rate, pero ang presyo ng pagkain hindi pa rin bumababa...It's still a problem, mataas pa rin ang presyo ng pagkain…Paano pa yung gamot, paano yung bayad sa kuryente, bayad sa tubig?” he said in an interview with GMA News Online.
(Our inflation rate has declined, but the price of food still remains high…It’s still a problem, food prices are still high ... How about medicine, the payment for electricity, and water?)
The senatorial candidate added that managing the per kilo price of rice would be a big help to many Filipinos, which currently averages P46.09 to P62.15 depending on how it is milled.
“Kailangan talagang ma-address itong problema ng mataas ng bilihin. We believe there are ways of being able to do that and that really starts with managing rice prices. When you manage rice inflation, you manage nationwide inflation,” said Pangilinan.
(This problem of high prices really needs to be addressed. We believe there are ways of being able to do that and that really starts with managing rice prices. When you manage rice inflation, you manage nationwide inflation.)
“If you tame rice inflation, you tame [the nationwide inflation.] And the supply of rice is such that, ayun na nga, kapag hindi mo na-manage yung tamang rice supply, hindi bababa ang presyo ng bigas, hindi bababa ang mataas na presyo ng pagkain.”
(If you tame rice inflation, you tame [the nationwide inflation.] And the supply of rice is such that, well, if you don't manage the right rice supply, the price of rice won't go down, the high price of food won't go down.)
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that the Philippines’ inflation rate slowed down for the second straight month, clocking in at 1.8% in March.
March’s figure was also the slowest inflation rate in nearly five years, when it settled at 1.6% in May 2020.
Meanwhile, food inflation, which tracks the price movements of food items in a "basket" commonly purchased by households, eased to 2.3% from 2.6% month-on-month.
The deceleration of food inflation was attributed to the faster contraction in rice prices, meat, and vegetables (6.9% from 7.1%), the PSA said.
Unemployment
Further, Pangilinan said investing in agriculture could also help produce jobs in the country.
“The fastest way to produce jobs is through agriculture. It’s the cheapest and the quickest way to increase employment, it’s investing in agriculture,” he said.
He added the government must initiate investing in the agriculture sector so that the private sector would follow suit.
“So yes, bakit mag-iinvest ang private sector sa agriculture kung nakikita nila hindi naman binibigyan ng importansya ng gobyerno?” said Pangilinan.
(So yes, why would the private sector invest in agriculture if they see that the government doesn't give it importance?)
“Mahalaga ang infra, pero wag naman ganun kalayo. Kasi hindi mo naman makakakain yung semento habang ginugutom ang ating mga kababayan. So there's a more equitable way of government spending, of reaching the optimum government spending that does not neglect agriculture and fisheries.”
(Infrastructure is important, but don't go too far. You can't eat cement while our countrymen are starving. So there's a more equitable way of government spending, of reaching the optimum government spending that does not neglect agriculture and fisheries.)
The PSA’s latest Labor Force Survey showed that unemployed persons, ages 15 and above,declined to 1.94 million in the second month of 2024.
This was lower by 228,000 compared to the 2.16 million jobless individuals in January 2025. —RF, GMA Integrated News
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