By Aerol John Pateña/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said it welcomes the easing rate of inflation in the country after it has slowed down to 3 percent last April.
The labor group however said it would prefer that the inflation goes down further after the election period.
“It is good to know that the inflation rate is sliding down over the period covered. However, we would like to see the real inflation rate when the election season ends,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
“The inflation rate is influenced by election campaign spending and candidate giveaways such as monies, rice groceries and other goodies,” he added.
The TUCP has recently filed a petition seeking for a PHP 710 per day across-the-board wage increase for workers in Metro Manila.
The minimum wage in Metro Manila will be increased to PHP 1,247 per day once the petition is granted by the National Capital Region-Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.
The labor group has likewise filed a wage increase petition for a PHP 386 across-the-board increase for private sector workers before the regional tripartite wage board in the Central Visayas.
The daily minimum wage in the region will be increased to PHP 772 if the petition was granted.
For its part, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released its latest list of suggested retail prices (SRPs) of basic necessities and prime commodities for the guidance and information of consumers and retailers
“The recent SRP list showed that only 26 out of 235 Shelf Keeping Units (SKUs) have increased their prices, which is only 11 percent of the total SKUs that we monitor. The remaining 209 SKUs or 89 percent of the total products listed in the SRP bulletin did not increase. Seventeen out of the 26 SKUs (65 percent) that adjusted in prices have less than PHP1 increase,” DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement.
Lopez further said that companies are the ones that are setting the prices of goods in the market while the department is mandated to manage the price increases to ensure the welfare of consumers.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the country’s inflation rate eased to a 16-month low of 3 percent in April, from 3.3 percent in the previous month attributed mainly to slower increases in food prices.
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