THE Anakpawis Party-list said the 5.4 percent inflation this may is obvious amid the increasing prices of petroleum products in the country.
"Obvious ba? Eh wala ngang tigil ang oil price hike. Ito ay inflationary pero ang mga neoliberal na ekonomista ng NEDA at gubyerno, panay pa rin ang pagtatanggol sa Oil Deregulation Law. Apektado nito ang lahat, laluna ang pagkain, na napakahalaga para sa mga lowest income families," Ariel Casilao, Anakpawis Party-list president said.
The group said prices of food products have been increasing since December last year to January due to the incessant oil price hikes in October.
Food products such as meat, fish, vegetables and sugar posted price increases, while palatable rice varieties remain at P37 per kilo, the party list claimed.
Vegetable prices increased highest at 19 - 37 percent in Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas and Davao Region. Fish prices increased by 11% in Zamboanga Peninsula and Central Visayas. Meat prices increased the highest by 11% in Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula, it added.
"Hindi naman ito pinapansin ng gubyerno kahit na malaki ang epekto nito sa mga maralitang pamilya sa bansa. Napakalaking 80 percent ng kabuuang bilang ng pamilya sa bansa, ang nabubuhay ng mas mababa sa family living wage na P1,072 kada araw," he said.
The group said that the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that eight deciles 2.47 million families had an aggregate income of P917.6 billion for the year, or P370,808 per family.
Monthly, it fell to P30,901 and daily to P1,016. Moreover, half of the families or 12.3 million in the country only live daily on P617 and below, according to Anakpawis
"Patunay lang na walang solusyon ang mga neoliberal policies na liberalization, deregulation at privatization sa pagresolba sa economic crisis sa bansa. Bagkus, ito pa nga ang ugat ng krisis at sample na ang Oil Deregulation Law," Casilao said.
He added that the incessant oil price hikes should be immediately addressed by the suspension of the excise tax and VAT on petroleum products.
He also mentioned the repealing of the Oil Deregulation Law and similar policies.
Aside from this, local production should be adequately supported as crucial step to self-sufficiency and stabilization of prices, especially food products.