A few weeks ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) brought some very unpleasant news to start off the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.: the country's inflation rate has gone up to an unprecedented level of 6.1 percent in June.
That, according to the state's statisticians, was higher than the 5.4 percent recorded in May and the highest recorded in three years.
And the President's now-viral reaction: It couldn't be that high!
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Well, Mr. President, for someone like me who eats out a lot and does some grocery shopping nowadays, I could tell you that I have to believe in what the PSA says about our staggering inflation rates.
Consider the "buy-one, take-one" burger I sometimes buy at a small-time burger chain here in San Pedro. When I first acquired a taste for them when I was a high school student back in 2009, the price of a single order was just P20.
Today, however, that single order of “buy-one, take-one” now costs P40, or double what it was priced in 2009.
And if you feel that the increase in the price of basic commodities was faster than what it had been during the past years, here’s news for you: you’re not imagining things.
I’ve noticed that too. Like, an “a la carte” price of a regular burger at a fast-food chain now costs P40, from P35 last January. A bucket of French fries now cost P77, from P63 last year when we weren’t burdened by reported shortages of raw materials.
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However, according to experts, the steep rise in the prices of goods is not just one way inflation pinches our pockets.
There’s also a thing called “shrinkflation”, or as they call it, the inflation you’re not supposed to see.
Prices stay the same, but the size or quantity of servings has become smaller or fewer as retailers quietly reduce the size of servings to cope with rising costs of raw materials.
You may not notice it at first, but in the long run, the effects of “shrinkflation” could easily be felt as you finally notice that the size of barbecue servings or the food you buy in your favorite carinderia has become slightly smaller than it was a year ago.
Here’s an obvious example: earlier in January, P20 could get me five pieces of “kwek-kwek” at a roadside stand in San Pedro City. This July, however, the vendor has reduced the number of servings to just four pieces per P20.
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Which is why President Marcos, Jr.’s incredulity at the reports of inflation – which, may I point out, comes from a GOVERNMENT-RUN agency – has everyone reacting like, “Huh?”
For one, a President not trusting his own people is not a good sign, especially when you realize that it’s these people who supply the data that the government needs to create the appropriate response to the problem of rising costs of goods and services.
Two, it has once again enforced the notion that the Marcos camp – and particularly their supporters – want to live in a kind of “fantasy land” where all the country’s problems will disappear at the drop of the hat once they take over.
Like it or not, prices of basic commodities have been increasing at a faster rate – and one could not simply say that the whole world is experiencing the same trend as an obvious excuse for the government’s lack of response.