Inflation is on a 2-year high, due mainly to the rising prices of pork and vegetables. The national government should address the drastically weakening purchasing power of the working people, even as it resolves the reasons for the price increase.
1. The poor need a bail-out due to rising prices of food, transportation, and unpaid utility bills. Proposals for a P10,000 immediate cash aid amid the pandemic should be taken up in Congress immediately.
2. Working people need a substantial wage hike to cope with the rising cost of living.
3. Supply issues involving pork should be addressed. Massive importation will kill the local industry. Local hog raisers are saying that there is adequate supply in Visayas and Mindanao and that these need to be transported to Luzon to address the supply shortage.
Inflation is expected to remain around the 4% levels in the coming months. With parts of the country still under general community quarantine, economic activity has remained limited. The country is now deep in debt as the cost of pandemic response continues to soar and as government insists on unproductive spending for counter-insurgency.
The people demand economic relief and a more democratic and pro-people pandemic response.#
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