A LEADER of the opposition in the House of Representatives hit the Aquino administration on Thursday “for letting inflation get out of hand while it focused on the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and its political agenda.”
“We have been constantly reminding the government that if it does not do anything about skyrocketing oil prices, it will have an impact on the prices of goods in the market. Now, here we are stuck in this predicament—prices of sardines and other goods are beginning to rise already which will start an avalanche of subsequent price hikes—all because the administration failed to prepare safeguards to cushion the people from the impact of inflation,” said Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay.
Magsaysay issued the statement even as economic experts have projected inflation to rise compared to 2011 levels due to geopolitical uncertainties in the world, owing mainly to the conflict in the Middle East which is considered the main supplier of oil in the world.
Magsaysay said this is not a new development because the conflicts have been going on for some time and has steadily been affecting the prices of petroleum products in the market.
“Our reminders and suggestions have all fallen under deaf ears. It is natural for high oil prices to cause a ripple effect in the production and distribution of goods because industries use energy and oil to transport and produce their goods. These businesses will not allow themselves to simply absorb the impact of the cost and not pass it on to the consumers. Months have passed of the same trend, but there is still no feasible solution implemented by the government—so far, it has been all talk of development and progress while citizens continue to suffer from the impact of inflation,” she said.
What is surprising, Magsaysay said is that despite constant calls and studies that indicate that the people’s wages are not growing in proportion to the GDP, or that the country’s work force is not compensated well as their Asian counterparts, the government is not doing anything about it.
“As a result, our people are falling victim to the quicksand that is inflation. They are being hit from all sides, electricity, food, fares, gasoline, LPG [liquefied petroleum gas].
The prices of all the things that they require are all increasing but their means to supports these needs—their income and livelihood are becoming inadequate to support them, all because the government’s priorities are focused on ousting a chief justice who went against its wishes, and persecuting the former administration.”
