A sizable majority of Filipinos want the Duterte administration to immediately address the soaring prices of commodities, an independent pollster said Thursday.
The latest Pulse Asia survey, conducted from Sept. 1 to 7, showed that controlling inflation was the top concern of 63 percent of the respondents.
The concern about the increasing prices in basic goods was highest in Balance Luzon at 66 percent, followed by the National Capital Region and Mindanao both at 65 percent, while it was 53 percent in the Visayas.
“The issue on inflation is the predominant opinion in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes. Meanwhile, half of Filipinos consider the need to increase the pay of workers as an urgent national concern–a sentiment expressed by majorities in Metro Manila (55 percent), the Visayas (59 percent), and Class ABC (52 percent), Pulse Asia said.
The Palace on Thursday assured the public that President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has taken necessary measures to curb the rising prices of basic goods.
“We recognize that price increases [are] a problem, but we assure the people that our President is not sleeping. This government is a bold and concerned government,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing Thursday.
Roque reiterated that the issuance of four orders would curb the rising prices by removing administrative constraints and non-tariff barriers in the importation of agricultural products and ensuring the efficient delivery of agricultural goods and price stability.
“We are confident that the effects of these measures will be felt in the markets,” said Roque.
“You can see that the entire economic team is active with the Department of Agriculture and other departments to solve this price increases,” said Roque. “Right now, the foremost priority of the administration is fighting inflation. So, everything is sidelined now.”
The Palace also welcomed the results of the same survey indicating the government’s high approval ratings in fighting criminality (83 percent), protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (75 percent), responding to the needs of areas hit by calamities (74 percent), fighting graft and corruption (71 percent), enforcing the law on everyone (69 percent), and ensuring peace in the country (69 percent).
Pulse Asia interviewed 1,800 registered voters . The survey has a + 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following error margins at 95 percent confidence level: +6 percent for Metro Manila, +3 percent for Balance Luzon, and +5 percent for each of Visayas and Mindanao.
The country’s biggest workers’ organization, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines criticized Duterte’s Cabinet officials for failing to control prices and increase the pay of workers.
ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said it was clear that the people are not satisfied with the Cabinet officials performance as shown in the survey released by Pulse Asia..
“Cabinet officials are not making any significant impact in the lives of workers and their families towards genuine change that President Duterte promised to us. Cabinet officials need to level up and perform better than the usual… if they want the Duterte administration to succeed in the hearts and minds of the people,” he said.
Tanjusay said the average buying power of minimum wage workers fell to only P200 a day due to insignificant wage adjustments by the regional wage boards and incredible increases in the prices of commodities and services.
“Cabinet officials lacked preparedness in addressing problems created by the implementation of comprehensive tax reform package under TRAIN 1 [Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion]. There is no government safety net to mitigate the impact of rising inflation especially to the working poor,” Tanjusay said.