Gov’t intensifying efforts to curb rising inflation —Palace

Amid the continuous uptrend in inflation, clocking in at its highest in two years in February, Malacañang on Saturday said the government is on top of the situation.

Inflation in February accelerated to 4.7% from 4.2% in January. This is the fifth straight month of increase in inflation and also its highest level since January 2019 when it clocked in at 4.4%.

“We are intensifying efforts to ease inflation through immediate interventions, such as augmenting the supply of meat,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said in a statement.

The February inflation print is driven by food inflation, mainly pork prices, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). 

The main culprit is pork, which saw a 20.7% price increase last month from 17.1% in January.

“We have implemented pro-active measures, which include the President’s signing of Executive Order No. 124, that imposed a price ceiling on selected pork and chicken products in the National Capital Region, procuring hogs from Visayas and Mindanao and ASF-free Luzon provinces and transporting them to major public markets in Metro Manila; providing transport subsidy for pork coming from different ASF-free areas, among others,” Roque said.

“Our economic managers see the upward inflation trend as temporary and concerned agencies in the Executive branch continue to check the prices of basic commodities while ensuring that prevailing rates are likewise fair to suppliers,” he said.

In a separate statement, the NEDA said the rise in food inflation to 7% in February from 6.6% in the prior month is “due to the continuous outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country and decreased local production of cattle and poultry from the previous year.”

To temper food inflation, the Cabinet level Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) has proposed to temporarily lower most favored nation (MFN) tariffs for pork and rice in consultation with various stakeholders.

This complements the proposed significant increase in the minimum access volume (MAV) for pork. According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), they have proposed to increase the MAV for pork from the current 54,000 to over 400,000 metric tons for this year.

“We are fast-tracking policies determined to stabilize food supply to ensure that households affected by COVID-19 and the quarantines will not be doubly affected by the increase in food prices,” Socioeconomic Planning Acting Secretary Karl Chua said.

Chua added that hog repopulation programs in "green zones" or African Swine Fever-free areas need to be prioritized.

The program includes the provision of swine livelihood enterprise, establishment of breeder multiplier farms, and intensive and modernized production.

Furthermore, the NEDA chief underscored the need to facilitate the unhampered delivery of agriculture and fishery products and the continued strict implementation of the Food Resiliency Protocol in coordination with local government units.

“This highlights the need for adequate logistics services. We will work with concerned government agencies to regularly assess the supply-demand situation for logistics services in their area and ensure that prevailing rates are fair for both commuters and operators,” Chua said. -MDM, GMA News