Higher inflation is worsening the cost of living crisis as prices continue to outpace the meager incomes of Filipino households, said research group IBON. The Philippines now has the highest inflation rate in Southeast Asia, underscoring how the Marcos’ administration’s ineffective response—not just the global oil price shock—is driving the crisis.
Inflation climbed to 7.8% in October from 7.2% in September, mainly driven by faster increases in fuel, electricity and rent. The group stressed that rising prices of these commodities, along with rice, are hitting poor and low income families especially hard.
The price of rice rose by 24% to Php49.90 per kilo from Php40.09 a year ago. Gasoline prices soared from Php58.15 to around Php90 per liter. The Department of Energy (DOE) meanwhile reported an increase of Php191 per 11-kilo tank of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in October. Meralco electricity rates rose 13.1% year-on-year, or by Php1.74 per kilowatt-hour from Php13.32/kwh to Php15.06/kwh.
IBON said that rising prices are further eroding Filipino workers’ already low wages and their purchasing power. The national average of regional minimum wages rose by just 6.9% from Php487 in October 2025 to Php521 in October 2026, lagging behind the 7.8% headline inflation and the even higher 9.5% inflation faced by the poorest 30% of households.
This Php521 national average of regional minimum wages is less than 40%of IBON’s estimated Php1,327 living wage for a family of five, or a staggering Php806 short. Equivalent to just Php11,325 monthly, the average monthly minimum wage also falls far below the official monthly poverty threshold of Php14,634—which is already a scandalously low standard for what families need to survive.
The Philippines now has the highest inflation in Southeast Asia at 7.8%, based on latest available data. This is followed by Lao PDR (7.7%), Cambodia (5.3%), Vietnam (5.1%), Indonesia (3.2%), Thailand (2.8%), Singapore (2.2%) and Malaysia (1.8%). That neighboring countries in the region have relatively lower inflation despite facing the same global shock underscores the Marcos administration’s failure to protect Filipinos from soaring prices and the worsening cost of living crisis.
IBON pointed out that the Marcos government is not even using its powers under a declared national energy emergency. These include regulating prices under the national emergency provisions of the Oil Deregulation Law and Price Act, and mobilizing sufficient resources to assist over 20 million poor and vulnerable Filipino households.
Instead, the government has only undertaken token measures such as minor excise tax cuts and temporary price freezes, alongside meager social assistance for too few. Worse, it continues to pursue policies that aggravate rather than address the crisis. Neglecting domestic production while relying on food imports, deregulated oil and privatized power leaves the country exposed to global price shocks and allows big local and foreign businesses to profit while ordinary Filipinos bear the burden.
IBON stressed that the government can regulate prices, substantially raise wages and incomes, and strengthen domestic production, but chooses not to do so.
