inflation
Wage woes amid higher prices
April 21, 2018
There should be an immediate, substantial and across-the-board minimum wage increase against the high inflation. Approve and mandate the Php750 national minimum wage that workers’ groups are calling for. Suspend TRAIN Package One, which is among the drivers of inflation. Ensure job security, necessary benefits, working conditions, and much needed social services to assist Filipino […]
Amid price hikes: Minimum wage insufficient vs. rising family cost of living — IBON
April 20, 2018
The onslaught of price hikes since early this year has made the mandated minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) even more inadequate for millions of Filipino workers to decently support their families, said research group IBON. IBON computations show that the NCR nominal minimum wage still falls considerably short of the rising family […]
First quarter of TRAIN: A preview of the worse to come for the poor
April 20, 2018
Nanay Inday joins the many ordinary folk in bearing the brunt of price hikes upon the January 2018 implementation of the first package of the Duterte administration’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN). A resident of the urban poor community in San Roque North Triangle, she laments that there are no longer Php5.00 bundles […]
Greater burden due to TRAIN
April 9, 2018
While the change in global oil prices and peso depreciation were factors in recent inflation, TRAIN also already increased the prices of oil products, sugar sweetened beverages and other goods and services. The public has been feeling the weight of price hikes as early as January.
UCTs only temporary
March 11, 2018
DOF said TRAIN will be ‘manageable’ since there would be unconditional cash transfers (UCT) for 10 million poor households. However, UCT is at Php200 per month in 2018 and 2019 then becomes Php300 per month in 2020. It is discontinued in 2021, when the poorest Filipino families will be confronted by markedly higher prices that […]
January inflation partially due to TRAIN—IBON
March 2, 2018
No cash transfers to cover January inflation, with prices going even higher in the months and years to come The Department of Finance (DOF) said that January inflation was not caused by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. Research group IBON however points out that the new tax program definitely contributed to […]
People-centered development vital for consumer rights
March 16, 2017
Prior to #WorldConsumerRightsDay, Filipino consumers including those for a #BetterDigitalWorld converged in a forum, expressed their woes and aspirations and vowed to continue working for #SocialEconomicChange Various consumer groups gathered in a conference last Monday in Quezon City to tackle the social and economic reforms needed to promote consumer welfare. The event participants recognized the […]
Under Marcos dictatorship unemployment worsened, prices soared, poverty persisted
November 25, 2016
“The decade 1975-1986 was actually a time of intense social crisis and economic difficulty for most Filipinos. The unemployment rate was falling in the early years of the Marcos regime – from 7.1% in 1966 to 3.9% in 1975. But this reversed in the mid-1970s to rapidly rise back to 7.9% in 1980. The […]