Almost 5 million more Filipinos now poor due to inflation, TRAIN —Quimbo

Close to an additional five million Filipinos have been added to the country's poor population due to the continuously accelerating inflation and the effects of the first package of the government's tax reform program, Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo claimed on Monday.

Quimbo made the remark as he stressed the need for the House of Representatives to approve a measure he filed seeking to repeal the excise tax imposed on kerosene and diesel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Citing a study by the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines in 2008 and 2009, when inflation had also risen to unprecedented levels, Quimbo said that every 10-percent increase in food prices results in 2.3 million new poor Filipinos.

"So kung sasabihin na ang naging epekto lamang ay 4 to 6 percent is minimal, it is not minimal because today food prices have increased by more than 20 percent, so therefore you have close to 5 million new poor Filipinos because of inflation, and part of that is greatly because of TRAIN," he said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority Metro Manila Price Bulletin showed that commercial regular milled rice alone increased by 21.62 percent in 2018 as compared last year.

"Data will show that for every 20 percent na increase in food prices, nagkakaroon din ng reduction na 20 percent sa pagkain. Ibig sabihin, you increase it by 20 percent, they will buy less food by 20 percent," Quimbo pointed out.

In House Bill 8171, Quimbo and seven other lawmakers seek to provide for a moratorium on excise taxes on fuel under TRAIN and return to zero the excise taxes on kerosene and diesel.

Some lawmakers, however, seem unsure of Quimbo's proposal.

AKO BICOL party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe, for one, said removing excise taxes would take a toll on the government's "Build, Build, Build" program.

"Totoo, tumaas po ang presyo pero kung aalisin po natin ang excise tax, ang maaapektuhan po itong mga programa pong ito ng gobyerno," Batocabe said in a separate press conference.

"Mas malaki po ang magiging epekto nito kaysa yung nagbabayad ka ng dagdag pamasahe o dagdag-singil sa gasolina o sa mga bilihin," he added.

Quimbo, however, challenged his colleagues to read the provisions of his bill so that they will be informed of its benefits.

"May iba pang miyembro ng majority who are going to support it. They are going to support it because this is the way to make the administration successful," he said.

"If we do not address inflation today, the problems will be worse tomorrow," he added. — BM, GMA News