SORSOGON CITY – Consumers should brace for another round of belt tightening as the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) revealed that the inflation rate for the month of September rose to 6.9%, which is the fastest in over thirteen years, as food and transport costs spiked.
The preliminary data, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) presented revealed that the headline inflation accelerated to 6.9% in September, from 6.3% in August and 4.2% in September 2021.
Nine of the thirteen commodities reported faster inflation in September.
Among the reported commodities that contributed to the faster headline inflation in September were food and non-alcoholic beverages (7.4% annually from 6.3% in August). Also included were essential services and commodities like housing, water, electricity, transport (14.5% from 14.6%) as well as gas and other fuels (7.3% from 6.8%).
The PSA noted that the inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) kicked to 6.5% in September compared to the 5.7% in August. Inflation outside Metro Manila also zoomed to 7% from 6.5% in the prior month. In addition, the PSA report also revealed that out of the seventeen regions in the country, more than half or nine regions reportedly posted faster inflation than the national average of 6.9%. These led by Zamboanga Peninsula (9.6% in September from 9.1% in August), Davao Region (9.6% from 8.9%), and Caraga (8.2% from 7.5%) respectively.
Despite high approval rating, Marcos Jr. disappoints the public over failure to curb control inflation;
In a recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia from September 17 – 22, 2022, 42% of the responder gave a resounding disapproval rating, particularly on how Marcos Jr confronts the speeding inflation rate.
While the majority of the items in the Pulse Asia survey or 11 of the 13 national concerns, Marcos Jr got a high approval rating, failing to control the inflation was actually the smear tainted on the current administration’s near-smooth performance. Moreover, Pulse Asia also said that 66% of Filipinos considered the need for Marcos Jr to control the Formula 1 speed-like inflation. It was followed by the need for jacking up worker’s wage (44%), job creation (35%) and reducing poverty (34%).