MANILA (LiCAS News): The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas [KMP] farmers group raised concerns about how food prices have remained the main driver of the country’s inflation rate. This is despite the slight ease in the overall inflation from 3.9 per cent in May to 3.7 per cent in June.
The group called the slight overall decrease “negligible” noting that food inflation alone accelerated from 6.1 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
A report from the Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA] said the acceleration of food inflation in June 2024 was “mainly brought about by the faster year-on-year increase in vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses index at 7.2 per cent in June 2024 from 2.7 per cent in the previous month.”
The government report also noted that meat products also contributed to the uptrend with an inflation rate of 3.1 pe rcent during the month from 1.6 per cent in May 2024.
Meanwhile, the inflation on rice was supposedly lower per the PSA report, though independent think tank, Ibon Foundation, said prices remain high.
The Marcos Jr. administration has reached new heights in lying about how this executive order could lower the price of rice. It is clear that it will only benefit importers, traders, and hoarders
Danilo Ramos
“The overall unaffordable rice prices nationwide remain as the primary cause of faster inflation in the country,” said Danilo Ramos, chairperson of KMP.
According to farmers, the Department of Agriculture’s Executive Order No. 62, which reduces tariffs on agricultural imports, such as rice from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, is contributing to the high cost of food.
“The Marcos Jr. administration has reached new heights in lying about how this executive order could lower the price of rice. It is clear that it will only benefit importers, traders, and hoarders,” Ramos said in a separate statement.
The group added that the agricultural crisis has been left unaddressed under the present administration, with the country’s worsening agricultural trade deficit, and job losses have occurred, with 462,000 jobs lost in rice production alone due to the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
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“Importation and liberalisation will keep the country chronically dependent on imported rice and food, and vulnerable to the availability of global supplies,” Ramos said.
As the third State of the Nation Address nears, the KMP said they are supporting calls for meaningful workers’ salaries that meet the family living wage.
“Poor and low-income families still bear the brunt of the high cost of living. The token wage increase for workers—35 pesos—approved by the National Capital Region wage board is not even enough to buy a kilo of rice at current retail prices,” Ramos said.
The KMP vowed to continue demanding lower food prices and higher wages and to oppose policies that negatively impact Filipino farmers and the agricultural sector.
