ANGELES CITY – The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) urged yesterday Pres. Duterte to impose “urgent price control on rice, food stuff and other basic commodities” amid worsening inflation nationwide.
“Duterte treats his words as the law. Even if there is no state of emergency, he can invoke the Price Control Act of 1991 or issue an Executive Order to rein in the exceedingly frequent price hikes affecting the general public,” said KMP chairman Danilo Ramos in a statement.
Ramos asked the President to “exercise strong and decisive political will in addressing the economic hardship brought about by unending price hikes and inflation.”
Ramos blamed Duterte’s economic managers for the “economic mess” in the country, saying they have been “feeding the President the wrong solutions and are even blaming farmers for this predicament.”
KMP noted that “for the fifth straight week, oil companies will impose oil price hikes again by P0.60 to P0.70 per liter for diesel, gasoline and kerosene and this will surely push further the prices of rice, food, vegetables and other basic goods.”
“The price hikes are unbearable for the poor and even the middle class are complaining,” Ramos noted.
He said “consumers are weeping over the sky-high prices of vegetables sold in markets. Week after week rice and food prices continue to increase, making it too heavy a burden for Filipinos.”
“Enough is enough. We ask Duterte to do something to bring down the prices of goods, raise basic pay or workers, and scrap the TRAIN law,” he added.
Ramos noted that “economic indicators are also really bad – inflation rate is at 6.4 percent, the peso plunged to its 13-year low at P56.38 to the US dollar, gross international reserves reached a 9-year low at $76.9-billion, the worst in history trade deficit stands at $19.1-billion, overseas remittance growth is at 2.6 percent which is the slowest in 17 years, and unemployment and underemployment figures is at more than 11.3 million.”
Ramos also cited the irony of Duterte’s denial of rice shortage in the country while importing 250,000 metric tons of rice, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ importing and selling of round scad or galunggong in local markets in violation of its own Administrative Order No. 195.
