In his Sona, Marcos makes preemptive strike at inflation menace

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. opened his much-awaited third State of the Nation Deal with (Sona) touting the steps that his administration has taken to resolve the one financial drawback that’s eroding his political capital: inflation.

It was a preemptive strike on the core subject, utilizing state information to spotlight the federal government’s insurance policies and achievements on meals safety.

As an example, Marcos mentioned palay harvest hit a record-high of 20 million metric tonnes final 12 months. However he additionally acknowledged that native manufacturing remains to be not sufficient to carry down the costs of rice, a staple meals for Filipinos.

READ: Marcos units allocation goal in equipment, water tasks, irrigation

He later went on to justify the controversial coverage selections he made prior to now 12 months to tame stubbornly excessive rice costs, together with a value ceiling on the commodity and the decreased tariff on imported rice that farmer’s teams at the moment are difficult on the Supreme Courtroom.

This, as he admitted that top financial development charges are hardly translating to extra reasonably priced meals for Filipinos, lots of whom are dropping belief and confidence in Marcos amid rising prices of dwelling, in response to opinion polls.

The president additionally assured the general public that his administration remains to be extra targeted on boosting native farm manufacturing, even hinting at his openness to increase the decrease tariff on rice and different commodities simply till the top of the 12 months and never all the best way till 2028.

”The exhausting lesson of this final 12 months has made it very clear that no matter present information proudly bannering our nation as among the many best-performing in Asia, means nothing to a Filipino, who’s confronted by the value of rice at 45 to 65 pesos per kilo,” the very first thing the president mentioned after acknowledging the VIPs at his Sona.

Information confirmed Inflation hovered above the federal government’s 2 to 4 % goal band for many of the second half of 2023, earlier than lastly easing again to that vary by the top of final 12 months. However a flare-up was seen once more this 12 months because of excessive power costs and the El Niñ0 onslaught, though value development had remained inside the state’s goal vary.

Within the first six months of 2024, inflation averaged 3.5 %.

READ: Sona 2024: Marcos admits financial good points imply little with excessive costs

Anthony Lawrence Borja, political science professor at De La Salle College, mentioned Marcos’ opening salvo was an try and “preempt detrimental reactions from the general public by highlighting each the vacancy of statistics and the futility of blaming exterior elements like the marketplace for unusual Filipinos.”

“Total, it’s an try and allay the rumblings of our collective stomach by promising meals safety via the continued pursuit and growth of present insurance policies, particularly these regarding agricultural manufacturing,” Borja mentioned.

Lacking from Sona

Regardless of highlighting the federal government’s anti-inflation gameplan and state efforts to draw job-generating international investments amid exhausting instances, the Maharlika Funding Fund—dubbed because the centerpiece of the Marcos administration’s financial agenda—was notably lacking from the president’s speech.

For DLSU’s Borja, Marcos’ lack of point out of Maharlika—which has but to make its first funding—would possibly ship a sign to the general public that the sovereign wealth fund is “not a precedence.”

“With none statements on the matter within the close to future, Maharlika, already questionable within the eyes of many, may descend into obscurity via the general public’s persistent forgetfulness,” he mentioned.

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