ALMOST six out of 10 Filipinos or 59 percent said rice had the highest price hike among the food items they bought in the last three months of 2024, a new survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Stratbase Group said.
In the survey, 25 percent said meat had the highest price increase, while 11 percent said vegetables had the highest price jump. Four percent said seafood prices climbed the most in the last quarter of last year.
The poll also showed that 58 percent of Filipinos said that steps taken by the government to curb soaring commodity prices are insufficient.
Mindanaoans were the most dissatisfied with the government’s inflation control measures, with 65 percent saying they were dissatisfied. The National Capital Region was slightly behind with 60 percent noting their dissatisfaction.
Government economic managers had promised that rice prices would go down by at least P5 per kilo as early as a month after the tariff on imported rice was reduced to 15 percent from 35 percent in June.
From an average of P54.40 per kilo in June, prices could go down to below P50 as early as August, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto was quoted by business reporters in July last year.
But the Philippine Statistics Authority noted that rice price increases were still increasing on a year-on-year basis by September, but at a slower pace.
While rice prices slid down in the months that followed in 2024, these were still nowhere near the expected reductions made by economic managers.
This led the government to declare a ‘Food Security Emergency’ and impose a ‘maximum suggested retail price’ on imported rice to try to bring down prices.
The PSA said Philippine inflation was steady at 2.9 percent in January, with rice prices actually in deflation. However, price increases quickened for food and non-alcoholic beverages.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa blamed the higher vegetable prices on the storms and typhoons that hit the Philippines. He attributed the hike in pork prices, meanwhile, to the problem of African Swine Fever in certain parts of the country.
Stratbase Institute president Prof. Dindo Manhit said the survey results on rice should be a wake-up call for government officials.
“These numbers are the reason why the public’s trust toward the government is continuously declining,” he noted.
The Filipinos’ trust in both President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte continued to decline in January 2025. (ABS-CBN News)
