Despite rising poverty, hunger, Romualdez credits Marcos for inflation drop

April 4, 2025 , 10:05 PM

By Rodolfo Dacleson II

(April 4, 2025) – House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Friday credited the economic “intervention measures” of Pres. Bongbong Marcos Jr. for the drop in the country’s inflation.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that inflation slightly eased to 1.8% in March from 2.1% in February due to a slower rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices. It was the lowest since 1.6% in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Economic and Development Authority.

“This shows that the intervention measures taken by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his administration like the drastic reduction in tariff on rice imports and the setting of maximum retail prices for rice and other food items are paying off,” said Romualdez in a media release.

Romualdez and Marcos are cousins.

Last year, Marcos signed Executive Order No. 62 to reduce the tariff for imported rice and other agricultural products from 35% to 15%.

Last month, the Department of Agriculture set the maximum suggested retail price for imported rice to P45 per kilo.

The administration set the inflation target for 2025 between 2% to 4%.

“We are happy for our people because slower inflation means less financial burden on their part,” said Romualdez, who’s seeking reelection in the upcoming midterm elections.

Marcos’ officials have repeatedly touted the country’s economy despite the clamor of progressive groups for the government to address the real problems experienced by Filipinos.

According to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), 27.2% or about 7.5 million Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger in March, an increase of 6% from February.

It was the highest rate since the 30.7% tallied during the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020.

In a separate survey, the SWS found that self-rated poverty or Filipinos who consider themselves poor increased to 63% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 59% in the previous quarter, becoming the highest tally in 21 years.

Marcos vowed to reduce the poverty rate to 9% by the end of his term in 2028.

(PM)

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