June inflation rate of 5.2% worries senators

By Hannah Torregoza | Updated July 5, 2018, 3:52 PM

Senators on Thursday urged the Duterte government’s state economic managers to be realistic and flexible in forecasting the country’s economic outlook saying Filipino consumers are the ones bearing the burden of inflation.

The lawmakers made the call as the annual inflation rate picked up faster last month to become the highest in more than five years, standing at 5.2 percent in June, based on the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said this bolsters his belief the government should revisit the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, especially the excise tax on fuel, given the adverse effects of inflation to public consumers.

“Di pwedeng patigasan ng ulo, dapat flexible ang economic managers. Di pwedeng puro pride na nagawa na nila, ayaw tanggapin ang mali. Mas maganda tanggapin mo mali at review mo para ma-correct kesa patitigasan mo na di kami mali tama ito, tapos nakikita ang epekto, ang tama sa ating lahat (Our economic managers should be flexible, they cannot afford to be hard-headed. They cannot impose their pride and say they have done everything and they won’t accept their fault. It’s best that you accept your mistakes and review it so you can correct yourself rather than insist that you did nothing wrong but the effect can be seen, as it affects all of us),” Lacson said in a press conference at the Kapihan sa Senado.

“Dapat i-revisit ang TRAIN. Sa akin nakita kong pinakamalaki sa excise tax. Halo-halo yan, oil price, world price ng oil, peso-dollar exchange rate. Pero malaking epekto rin ang dinagdagan mo pa ang tax ang fuel e ang daming gumagamit ng krudo. Maski sa kuryente may component na krudo. (TRAIN should be revisited. I can see that the biggest hurdle is the excise tax (on fuel). It’s a mix, oil price, world price of oil, peso-dollar exchange rate—but the biggest effect is still fuel tax when you know a lot of people rely on fuel. Even with electricity, crude oil is still a big component),” he said.

Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV, likewise, slammed the government’s continued inaction on the TRAIN Law amid the doubling of the country’s inflation rate in a span of one year.

“Sa loob lang ng isang taon, dumoble na ang inflation rate ng bansa pero nagmamatigas pa rin ang gobyerno sa TRAIN Law (In just one year, the country’s inflation rate doubled but the government still refuses to bend on the TRAIN law),” Aquino said.

“Malinaw ang mensahe ng 5.2 percent na inflation rate. Kailangan nang i-preno ang TRAIN sa lalong madaling panahon dahil nalulunod na sa taas presyo ang taumbayan, (The 5.2 percent inflation rate sends a clear message. There is a need to put the brakes on the TRAIN law in the soonest possible time because the people are already burdened with the high cost of prices),” Aquino said.

Both Aquino and Lacson voted against the ratification of the Duterte government’s tax reform program.

The latest inflation rate surpassed the projection by the country’s economic managers.

The Department of Finance (DOF) predicted the inflation rate at 4.9 percent while Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) economists placed it at 5.1 percent.

Source: https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/07/05/june-inflation-rate-of-5-2-worries-senators/