Inflation hits poorest Filipinos decline

The income of over 60 million poorest among the poor Filipinos fell sharply in the first six months of the year due to the continued rise of inflation, according to an independent research group.

Ibon Foundation said, in a news statement, “that the poorest 60 million Filipinos have suffered income losses of anywhere from P993 to as much as P2,715 because of worsening inflation since the start of 2018.”

The high inflation affected the purchasing power of the low income of the poor Filipinos the most and are mostly salaried workers who only earn a minimum rate per month.

Various labor groups belonging to the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition found the same problem.

Nagkaisa president, lawyer Jose Sonny Matula, said the P512 daily minimum wage of workers in Metro Manila, which is the highest in the country, is no longer enough to purchase their daily needs.

As such, Matula, also president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), asserted there is really a need for the laborers to get a better pay, which they call “living wage.”

Living wage means the worker and his family could have a decent living condition.

In stressing the grim condition of the poor, Ibon cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing the inflation rate increased from 3.4 percent in January to 5.2 percent in June.

According to Ibon, if the high inflation rate is “measured using the 2012 as the base year, the June inflation rate is already more than double the 2.5 percent rate in the same period a year ago and four times the 1.3 percent inflation rate in June 2016 at the start of the Duterte administration. [If] measured using 2006 as the base year, the inflation rate would be 5.7 percent, making it already the highest monthly rate in nearly 10 years or since March 2009.”

The group strongly believes that the seemingly unabated inflation rate increase was the product of the Tax Reform for Accessibility and Inclusion (Train) law, specifically its provision on excise tax on the petroleum products.

The group expressed that the worse has yet to come as the inflation rate from July onwards will likely increase.

PSA disclosed on Tuesday that the inflation in July has increased to 5.7 percent, which is near the high target of 5.8 percent by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Ibon explained that in the first six months of the year, the households in the poorest level with P7,724 monthly income have cumulatively lost P993 due to inflation.