Government focused on helping ‘poor, vulnerable’ amid rising inflation

MANILA – The Marcos administration is putting a premium on individuals belonging to the poor and vulnerable sectors who are bearing the brunt of increasing prices of basic commodities, one of the country’s economic managers said on Tuesday, February 21.

of Chinese distant water fleets that go dark by using techniques like turning off their identification system, increase the possibility of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing infractions.

According to the study, “One of the most important environmental consequences of the Chinese fishing fleet on the EU’s distantwater fishing activities is the depletion of fisheries stocks, which is associated with environmental degradation and results in reduced resource availability for all actors involved.”

During the visit of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to the fishing community of Tagburos in Palawan last November, she spoke about the risk that fishing communities face “when foreign vessels enter Philippine waters and illegally deplete the fishing stock; when they harass and intimidate local fishers; when they pollute the ocean and destroy the marine ecosystem.”

If one can recall, over 200 Chinese fishing vessels were seen at Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) in March 2021 with reports that they have been anchored in the area since December 2020, raising fears of “possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safety of navigation” in the West Philippine Sea.

Given these numerous incidents in the past, no one can really blame Filipinos for the continued and increasing anger at and distrust of China. This latest incident has also prompted many enlightened legislators to consider working together with other countries aside from the United States to maintain maritime peace and security in the region.

Certainly, we cannot and must not “drop the ball” on this one like what happened in 2012 when we “lost” the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

I have often said – Filipinos are a patient people, and while everybody wants a peaceful resolution to all these incidents that have been repeatedly happening over the years, it is clear to all of us that “what is ours is ours,” period. We are not claiming anything outside of what is clearly within our territorial waters.

As President Marcos had said: “We have no conflict with China; the issue we have is that China is claiming territory that belongs to us.”

(Philstar.com)

In a Palace press briefing, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government is doing its best to help the indigent Filipinos badly affected by the soaring inflation.

“For those naman na talagang affected adversely, lalo na ‘yung mga very poor at vulnerable groups, ‘yun talaga ang pagbuhusan natin ng assistance (For those who are really affected adversely, especially the very poor and vulnerable groups, they will get the needed assistance from us),” Balisacan said.

He issued the statement, when quizzed if the executive department is considering adopting the move of the Senate to provide onetime PHP50,000 inflation assistance to its 3,000 rankand-file employees.

On Monday, February 20, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri announced that the Senate would raise the one-time inflationary allowance to PHP50,000 from PHP12,000 to shield its staff from the rising cost of essential commodities.

Being an “independent body,” Congress can decide “on their own spending,” Balisacan said.

Balisacan said granting one-time inflationary assistance to employees of the executive branch is “not feasible.”

“As you know, our fiscal space is very, very limited,” he said.

“Doon sa mga vulnerable talaga tayo naka-focus ngayon kaya dinadalian namin ‘yung mga issues constraining ‘yung digitalization natin kasi ‘yun ang makakatulong sa pag-ensure na ‘yung limited assistance natin ay makakarating talaga sa mga dapat matulungan (We are prioritizing the vulnerable sectors. That’s why we are addressing the issues constraining digitalization efforts to ensure the delivery of limited assistance to those in need),” Balisacan added.

Balisacan, nevertheless, noted that the Marcos administration is considering another round of annual salary increases for government employees.

However, talks about the planned salary hike are “still premature,” he said.

He said the government is also optimistic that inflation will ease “in the coming months.”

“Tayo ay naapektuhan differently doon sa inflation (We are affected differently by inflation). On one hand, we’re trying to work out na ‘yung inflation na iyan ay bababa in the coming months,” Balisacan said. “We’re hoping that we see a plateau already of that inflation.”

The country’s headline inflation rate in January 2023 ticked up to 8.7 percent from 8.1 percent in December 2022, according to the recent Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report.

Based on the PSA report, the January 2023 inflation was mainly driven by increases in housing rentals, electricity and water rates, as well as in the prices of vegetables, milk, eggs, fruits and nuts.

On Feb. 7, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. hoped that the drop in the prices of fuel and imported agricultural products would help tame inflation.

Balisacan earlier said the government has identified measures to keep food price movements, consistent with the government’s inflation and food security objectives, with higher agricultural productivity, food supply augmentation and energy security seen as priorities to temper upward price pressures. (PNA)

7 out of 10 Filipino Catholics pray at least once daily - SWS

MANILA – The new survey results by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) suggest that seven out of 10 Filipino Catholics pray at least once daily.

According to the Fourth Quarter 2022 SWS survey conducted from Dec. 10 to 14, 2022, around 69 percent of Filipino Catholics pray every day — with 35 percent praying several times a day and 34 percent praying once a day.

The survey also revealed that around 10 percent of Filipino Catholics pray several times a week; 6 percent pray every week; 4 percent pray 2 to 3 times a week; 4 percent pray about once a month; 2 percent pray nearly every week; 1 percent pray several times a year; 1 percent pray about 1 to 2 times a year; 1 percent pray less than once a year; and 1 percent never pray.

On the attendance in religious services, 38 percent said they attend religious services once a week or more than once a week.

Twenty-four percent said they attend religious services two or more times a month; 20 percent once a month; 9 percent about two to 11 times a year; 7 percent once a year; and only 3 percent said they never attended religious services.

As for the mode of attending religious services, 93 percent personally go to the place of worship in the past three months; 3 percent watched religious services online or on television (TV); 2 percent attended both in-person and online or TV; and only 1 percent did not attend any religious services.

The December 2022 survey had 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above nationwide with a sampling error margin of ± 2.8 percent. (PNA)