Price increase most unfair amid job losses, Villar said

Nacionalista Party President Sen. Manny Villar today said government should block unreasonable price increases in the face of a worsening unemployment problem in the country.

"Government should monitor unreasonable price increases in prime commodities amid our present economic difficulties. We cannot afford to have prices of food and other basic commodities soar to prohibitive levels at a time when workers are losing their jobs," Villar said.

Villar issued this statement amid the looming price increases in chicken and pork. The LPG Marketers Association had also made public their plan to increase LPG prices by P5 per kilo this month. He also urged concerned government agencies to ensure that the price hikes are really market-driven and not artificial.

"Government as well as industry players must be sensitive to the present predicament of the rising number of Filipinos losing their jobs and should not allow high prices of food and fuel to aggravate their suffering," he added.

Villar lamented that the number of unemployed could hit 100,000 in the first quarter of 2009 as reported. He called on government to "do everything possible to save jobs and create new ones.

"The government should now speed up efforts to assist those who stand to lose their jobs as a result of the global economic slowdown. With hundreds of Filipinos losing their jobs every day both here and abroad, we face a crisis of grave proportions unless we have the proper safety nets for them, he said.

Villar said while price increases were inevitable when there was a problem of supply, safety nets should be put in place in order to cushion the vulnerable sector of the society from the full blow of higher cost of living.

He also cautioned that massive unemployment coupled with high prices of prime commodities is a surefire formula for political instability and social unrest.