Arrest education workers’ rapidly eroding incomes, gov’t urged

November 16, 2018

The salaries of education workers are being battered by unprecedented rising prices, research group IBON said. The paltry increases, which even came in trickles under Executive Order 201, have already been eroded since they were applied in 2016, said the group. In a media forum, IBON executive editor and research head Rosario Bella Guzman said […]

Lowest-income households have lost as much as Php6,800 to high inflation

November 6, 2018

The incomes of the country’s poorest households have eroded after ten months of accelerating inflation. Research group IBON estimates that the poorest 60 million Filipinos have suffered income losses of anywhere from Php2,500 to as much as Php6,800 because of worsening inflation since the start of 2018. The inflation rate has increased from 3.4% in […]

Inflation ‘tapering off’? Prices are still high

November 6, 2018

Stubbornly high inflation increases risk of econ slowdown, unmanageable debt–IBON

November 6, 2018

Research group IBON said that the apparently uncontrollable inflation is fast becoming a flashpoint of the administration’s economic mismanagement. High inflation is combining with rising interest rates, slowing remittances and failing exports to dampen economic growth. The administration is desperate for a short-term infrastructure stimulus to compensate for these, said the group, but a major growth slowdown […]

Php18,855 already lost–Jeepney drivers among biggest losers from TRAIN’s oil taxes-IBON

October 31, 2018

Research group IBON said that jeepney drivers and their families have suffered huge income losses from rising pump prices on top of facing rising prices of basic goods and services. The initial and impending fare hikes give immediate relief but only temporarily. Fare hikes only worsen the burden on commuters and the government needs to […]

Bolder measures beyond suspension of fuel excise needed—IBON

October 16, 2018

The Duterte administration’s announcement that it will suspend the next round of fuel excise taxes will not lower current high prices and at best only lessens TRAIN’s inflationary impact next year, research group IBON said. It is however a welcome admission of the inflationary impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, […]

Inflation worsening: Gov’t should act fast as households’ incomes hemorrhage

October 5, 2018

Research group IBON said that inflation has not tapered off as government projected but has accelerated in September, highlighting government’s continued neglect in addressing rapidly rising prices of goods and services. The group said that government continues to push failed neoliberal measures, while feigning concern for Filipino families struggling with a quickly falling purchasing power. […]

Dubai crude trigger price to suspend TRAIN oil taxes already reached, IBON observed

October 4, 2018

The government is already obliged to start considering suspension of its oil excise taxes as provided for under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, said research group IBON. The group said that oil prices have in effect already reached the trigger price for suspending excise taxes as provided in Republic Act 10963 or […]

Poor and middle class burdened most by TRAIN’s oil taxes

October 3, 2018

The higher oil excise taxes of the Duterte administration’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) is a greater burden on the poor and middle class than the rich, said research group IBON. The poor and middle class, even those few with gains from personal income tax cuts, will suffer cuts in their standard of […]