RPPe We will help PBBM keep food products affordable; challenge is to keep inflation down  - Speaker Romualdez

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Friday vowed that he and his colleagues in the House of Representatives would continue to help President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. to keep food prices down.

The leader of the 300-plus-strong House made the commitment in reaction to the President’s statement that the government would sustain measures to make food items and other products affordable.

The President made his remark after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that inflation in August slowed to 3.3 percent, down by 1.1 percent from 4.4 percent in July.

“We will help the President by approving pieces of legislation and exercising our oversight power to keep prices down, untangle bottlenecks in the distribution chain that push prices up and to expose abusive practices like hoarding and price manipulation,” Speaker Romualdez said.

He said the fall in inflation last month meant that government intervention measures like the direct sale of rice to the poor through Kadiwa stores and the President’s decision to significantly reduce rice import tariff were succeeding.

“It was meant to be. It was not a fluke,” he said.

He added that inflation rates in July and August are usually on an elevated level since this is the start of the rainy season when it becomes more difficult for producers and distributors to transport and distribute consumer products.

The House leader noted that in August 2023, inflation was recorded at 5.3 percent, which means that this year’s level was 2.3 percent lower than the rate two years ago.

“Managing inflation is a see-saw battle. The challenge for us is to keep it falling, or at least steady. And with the executive and legislative branches and of course the private sector working together, I hope we succeed for the benefit of our people,” he stressed. (END)