price hikes

Purchasing power of NCR minimum wage still falls

May 18, 2022

Price increases cause insufficient wages to further erode

The scourge of price hikes

April 16, 2022

Prices keep rising, cash subsidies are limited, and real wages keep falling. The situation will not get better if the government does not acknowledge that the rampant jobs crisis and worsening poverty are huge problems that require big solutions.

Use ₱133.9-billion TRAIN revenues for ayuda – IBON

August 14, 2021

The Duterte administration can use revenue generated by its regressive TRAIN law to fund emergency cash assistance. TRAIN’s new taxes increased the prices for goods and services consumed by the majority poor Filipinos even amid the pandemic and the revenues can be used productively while the law remains.

Rice tariffication to impoverish Filipino farmers more, Congress warned

August 4, 2018

Research group IBON raised concern over the current move by the House of Representatives (HOR) to lift the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports and instead apply a 35% tariff on unlimited rice importation. This will practically decrease farmgate prices, said IBON, but not necessarily lower retail rice prices as government claims. Rice prices have […]

Group refutes government’s defense of TRAIN

July 23, 2018

In a consumer forum held in anticipation of the third State of the Nation Address, research group IBON debunked the Duterte administration’s avid defense of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. The group said that contrary to government’s pronouncements, the tax program is not beneficial to the poor majority of Filipinos and […]

TRAIN-driven rising cost of living makes wage hike urgent

July 9, 2018

Research group IBON said that tax-driven inflation is making the meager wages of poor Filipinos fall even further behind the rising cost of living. The group said this makes it even more urgent for the government to immediately raise wages even as it revisits the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law behind the […]

Govt’s TRAIN to blame for highest inflation in nearly 10 years — IBON

July 5, 2018

Research group IBON said that the government’s insistence on higher taxes especially on the poor is among the factors driving inflation rates to their highest in nearly a decade. The group said that runaway inflation is due to the peso depreciation and rising global oil prices combined with the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion […]

TRAIN-induced price increases are permanent—IBON

May 10, 2018

The inflation spike marks the start of increases​ driven by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)​ in the prices of basic goods and services for the next three years, research group IBON said. Further inflationary surges are likely to happen in 2019 and 2020 when the next two rounds of additional taxes on […]