Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos couldn't help but worry about going "viral" again after he was asked on Friday afternoon, Nov. 4 to give his two cents on another economics-related issue.
Marcos was gamely fielding questions from reporters in his district office when one of them asked, "Sir, yung opinyon niyo po sa patuloy na pagtaas ng inflation? (Sir, what's your opinion about the continued rise in inflation rate?)"
To this, the 28-year-old congressman said, "Baka mag-viral nanaman tayo (We might go viral again)." This triggered laughter from the journalists present in the briefing.
Marcos was obviously referring to his "The peso is not weak because the peso is weak" remark, which he gave to the same set of journalists during a previous briefing last month when they asked him about the depreciating peso.
Fairly or unfairly--depending on where you sit in the political spectrum--this remark was picked on and parodied by netizens on social media.
Regarding these bashers, Marcos said: "Well OK lang, pabayaan natin (that's OK, let's leave them be)."
Here's what Sandro said about inflation
The London School of Economics and Political Science Master's Degree holder on Development Studies went on to give a detailed comment on the Philippines' fast inflation.
"This was expected, it's an unwelcome development. But it is expected given the numerous supply...that happened. Like I said in my last interview, the government is trying to be self-sustainable in terms of agriculture and production that would hopefully cut down imports and make the rises in price more palatable," he said.
"But in saying that, it's not just supply driven, it's also demand-driven. There was actually a study that came out na nakita ko (that I saw). Kasi (Because) inflation is affected by lack of supply or excess in demand. So it's a bit of both, mostly supply," he noted.
"Katulad ng sinabi ko noon (Like what I said before), even if we have reached a high--I think since December 2018, was the last time na nakarating tayo sa ganung kataas na inflation (that was the last time that we reached this high of an inflation rate)--this is something that's being experienced by the whole world," explained Marcos.
Philippine inflation raced to a four-year high of 6.9 percent last September.
But, if it's any consolation, the presidential son underscored that the Philippine inflation rate "is not that high" or just at mid-level when compared to that of its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"So it's really a global phenomenon. That's not to say we shouldn't be doing anything about it. So rest assured, the national government--I think Ben Diokno of the DOF (Department of Finance)--just made an announcement...the programs they would be pursuing to be able to ease the burden of the rise in prices," Marcos said.
"So with that, I guess we just have to keep on going and hope that this global phenomenon would work out for all," he further said.