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Malacanang: PBBM readies anti-inflation measures

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is ready to undertake measures to help curb inflation, according to Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles.

Angeles gave the assurance after survey firm Pulse Asia bared the findings of its recent survey which said that most Filipinos stressed the need for Marcos to control inflation.

In its June 24 to 27 survey, Pulse Asia found that 57% of the Filipinos want the Marcos administration to take immediate steps to ease inflation.

Reacting to the poll results, Angeles said the President is aware  that the country’s inflation uptick could be a potential problem which is why he discussed several initiatives to undertake during his virtual Cabinet meeting, to address the issue.

“We actually discussed inflation at the last Cabinet meeting and the President himself reported this, so he is actually ahead of the publication of the survey having anticipated this as a potential problem,” she said in a text message to Palace reporters.

Philippine inflation climbed to a three-year high at 6.1% in June from 5.4% in May and 3.7% a year ago amid higher food and transport costs, according to the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In a media interview on July 5, Marcos said he has directed all government agencies to follow the “central policy” that will be crafted by his economic team, stressing that the country’s rising inflation warrants careful handling and close monitoring.

Pulse Asia, in the same survey, revealed that 45% of adult Filipinos express hope that Marcos would look for ways to increase the pay of workers, as well as prioritize poverty and the unemployment problems.

Around 33 percent of the respondents wanted the government to address poverty, while 29 percent were optimistic there will be more job opportunities in the country soon. 

The survey results also showed that 20% of sample adult Filipinos emphasized the urgent need to fight graft and corruption in government, while 15% want the government to ensure the enforcement of law “on all, whether influential or ordinary people.”

The survey results likewise showed a uniform 14% in favor of the government giving priority to fighting criminality, peace and order promotion, and providing assistance to Filipinos severely affected by the Covid-19) pandemic.

The other issue the respondents want the administration to ay attention to but on a lower urgency ranking, include state attention to the problem of involuntary hunger (12%), tax reduction (9%), environmental degradation (7%), support for restoration of small businesses (7%), defense  of Philippine territorial seas (7%) percent), and the spread of Covid-19 (7%).

At the bottom of the respondents’ priority concerns are the  welfare of overseas Filipino workers (5%), and terrorism (3%).

Pulse Asia it interviewed 1,200 adult Filipinos using an error margin of ± 2.8 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

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