Statement of Sen. Francis Pangilinan on the 6.7% inflation for October

The 6.7% inflation in the country has been in place for two months now -- higher than the estimate of the Bangko Sentral and the Department of Finance that it will go down to 6.5%. It is also alarming that the inflation or the price of rice slightly increased to 10.7% this October compared to 10.4% last month.

The government's Economic Team released a joint statement on October 7 assuring us that its members are working on lowering the prices of goods and giving assistance to our people greatly affected by inflation.

But the increasing prices of goods has been the country's problem for more than two months. And yet until now, we haven't seen any concrete action by the government to directly address this problem.

Last September, we gave a few suggestions to address inflation and we want to reiterate these:

First, suspend the excise tax of fuel. It was the Bangko Sentral that said in a Senate hearing on October 25 that if the excise tax on fuel is suspended, it would help curb inflation.

Second, revisit the unconditional cash transfer program and ensure that our impoverished countrymen will receive government's aid sufficiently and soonest, especially since Christmas is right around the corner. In a hearing on October 23, the DSWD said that there are still more than one million families that are yet to be given a schedule to receive their payout because it is a "challenge" to reach isolated or depressed areas.

Third, fix the NFA leadership and ensure that they abide by their mandate in regulating the price of rice especially now that both Vietnam and Thailand have announced to back out in the bidding for 203,000 metric tons of rice because of some concerns in the terms of reference.

When will we act? We reiterate these and we hope the government will listen because these are not just their problem but the problem of every Filipino.