The harsh truth is that Eastern Visayas' consumers entered the year 2026 with an additional burden on their backs.
That burden is the high costs of basic goods and commodities, which drove the region's inflation rate up once again last January.
No less than the Philippines' statisticians conceded that the region suffered a double-rate rise in its inflation rates last month: 2.5 percent in January 2026, more than double the 1.4 percent recorded in December 2025.
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) officials said the uptrend in the regional rate in January was primarily influenced by the faster IR in the heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.7 percent from 1.4 percent logged a month ago.
“The uptrend in the regional food IR in January 2026 was mainly driven by the slower annual price decrease in rice at 5.5 percent from 12.7 percent in December 2025,” PSA Region 8 chief statistical specialist Mae Almonte told media.
In addition, faster IRs were noted in meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, oils and fats, flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals.
The PSA also reports faster IR in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 3.2 percent from 1.2 percent in the previous month.
The restaurants and accommodation services, which registered a higher IR of 2.2 percent from 0.8 percent in December 2025, also contributed to the uptrend of the regional inflation, according to Almonte.
Samar provinces suffered the most
Five of the region’s six provinces recorded higher inflation rates in the first month of 2026.
Among the provinces, Samar posted the highest rate at 5 percent, up from 2.7 percent logged in the previous month. This is followed by Eastern Samar’s IR adjustment from 0.2 percent to 1.2 percent month-on-month.
These provinces had been the subject of recent public scrutiny over the deteriorating state of its roads, particularly the Maharlika Highway.
It has been pointed out that the bad shape of Maharlika Highway and other roads in Samar have more than doubled travel time, resulting in higher transportation costs in a region that has already been affected by the load limits on several key bridges.
Biliran’s IR is higher at 2.4 percent in January from 1.7 percent month-on-month. Leyte’s rate shot up to 2.3 percent during the same period from 1.3 percent month-on-month.
Northern Samar’s IR slightly increased from 0.5 percent last December to only 0.6 percent in January, while Southern Leyte province maintained its 1.7 percent IR in the past two months.
Tacloban, the lone highly urbanized city in the region, recorded an inflation rate of 2.6 percent, higher than its 2 percent IR a month earlier.
(With report from PNA)
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