VERA Files
Inflation is expected to remain below 2 percent the rest of the year as more imported rice enter the market, slashing down the prices of the staple food, said Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow Roehlano Briones.
A netizen’s month-old online post currently circulating on social media which claims that Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno attributed recent inflation rates to rice hoarding, price hikes on oil and vegetables and “economic sabotage” by oligarchs is misleading.
President Rodrigo Duterte blames the nine-year-high inflation rate on rising oil prices. Yet his finance department tells a different story.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, downplaying the recent inflation figures, mishmashes his data and then blames the media.
He also partly blamed the media.
Pinaghalu-halo ni Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo ang kanyang mga datos kaugnay ng inflation sa isang panayam sa telebisyon.