Barangay Health Workers (BHW) Party-list on Wednesday, July 6, called on the Marcos administration to provide free transportation services to barangay health workers and other frontliners amid the rising inflation rate, while women’s rights group Gabriela chided the President for dismissing the latest inflation data.
BHW Party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co demanded for “more effective action” that includes “subsidies giving direct aid to the poor and lower-middle-income families".
In particular, she said the health workers need “Libreng Sakay” (free ride) buses and jeepneys going to Manila and plying the EDSA route toward the cities of Pasig, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasay, Muntinlupa, and Parañaque.
She also called for the return of the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
“Mas mahal na ngayon ang tinapay, mantika, gamot, pamasahe, at marami pang iba. Hindi sapat iyong pagtaas ng minimum wage (Breads, oil, medicines, fare, and others are more expensive now. Increasing the minimum wage is not enough),” Co said in a statement.
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She asked everyone to be “discerning” with the latest inflation data.
“In the months ahead, expect higher prices of imported products and products with high import content,” Co added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s inflation rate soared to 6.1 percent, the highest since October 2018.
Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas also on Wednesday called out President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for his remark on the latest inflation data.
“How can a President cast doubt on the official inflation data without any proof that price hikes supposedly decelerated?” she said.
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The lawmaker added that the President should understand the situation on the ground.
Brosas said it is alarming how the Chief Executive has casually dismissed the record-high inflation right when the country needs concrete solutions to the skyrocketing prices of commodities.
During his first media briefing on Tuesday, July 5, Marcos said he “disagrees” with the figure released by the PSA.
He added that rising inflation is happening “everywhere” and that “forces that have pushed the commodity prices up are again beyond our control".