In 2024, the Marcos Jr administration implemented economic policies that favor big businesses and foreign investors while keeping wages at miserable levels.
Twenty senators recently signed the resolution for the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) even if various sectors reiterated the call to junk it.
"Private companies always come after big profit margins. Under LRMC's contract, the government will pay once the corporation is not able to charge a fare hike. This is unclear and anti-people," said Bayan.
There seems to be no end in sight just yet for the increasing food prices in the Philippines, with the country’s poor bearing the brunt of it.
The call comes from concerns of “possible bankruptcy of 4,584 sugarcane planters [and] less work for more than 10,000 sugarcane field workers."
One of the legacies of the Marcos Sr. dictatorship is how it blatantly used the state and bureaucracy to plunder the economy and enrich itself and its favored elite, including foreign interests. Marcos. Jr., with his economic blueprint, is setting the stage to do the same.
"The supervening event of a very high inflation is enough reason to raise the wages of workers, salaries of employees and livelihoods of [Filipinos]."
When asked about the country’s inflation rate, Jemelie Polinar, a mother of three, let out a sigh as she picked the freshest yet cheapest squash. “To be honest, I don’t know anything about those numbers. What I know is that the poorest of the poor are suffering the most. This is our daily reality, from the increased transportation costs to the food we need.”
Farmers said Marcos Jr's decision to give priority to debt servicing and infrastructure during this period of worsening food crisis is telling of what’s in store for Filipinos in the next six years.
"What follows the food crisis will be the worsening hunger of the people.”
Dev't groups say Filipinos are seeking tangible solutions, looking at the upcoming election as a turning point for democracy and development.
Ibon Foundation executive director Sonny Africa said that foreign direct investments are not “some kind of magic bullet for development.”
"The next administration must do away with previous and existing neoliberal policies that wreaked havoc on our agriculture and productive forces.”
For Filipino transport drivers, the incessant oil price hikes may force them to stop operating. Worse, it keeps them from putting food on their table.
According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), there is "no physical shortage" of oil. So, what is happening then? As in the case of major oil price volatilities this century, excessive speculation in the oil derivatives markets is pushing up prices, not the disruptions in oil's actual or physical trading.
Farmers and fisherfolk groups reiterated the need for aid as the incessant oil price hikes have significant impacts on their production and cost of living.
“Every oil price increase is an added burden to consumers, workers, farmers, and the poor. These price hikes have resulted in increased cost of production and lower income for farmers, fisherfolk, and transportation workers who have nothing to bring home to their families now."
"DA stands for Department of Agriculture, not Department of Importation. The agency's primary focus should be the strengthening of the domestic agriculture and fisheries sectors."
For Filipinos running micro and small businesses, overworking has become the new norm as they confront the incessant rising of prices of oil and basic commodities.
“Importing fish, especially the kind common in the Philippine waters, is akin to importing agricultural staples that could be grown in Philippine soil.”
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