The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the slightly lower inflation for the month of June was hardly felt by Filipinos as rice prices and cost of food and basic commodities remains high. “The overall unaffordable rice prices nationwide remain as the primary cause of faster inflation in the country,” according to KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos.

According to IBON Foundation, “despite the overall headline inflation slowing to 3.7 percent in June 2024 from 3.9 percent in May 2024, inflation in food and non-alcoholic beverages accelerated to 6.1% from 5.8% in the same period. Food inflation alone accelerated to 6.5% from 6.1 percent.” The hairline deceleration of rice inflation is negligle as it remained in the double-digits. Rice inflation for the poorest households remain high despite lowering to 24.4% from 25.1 percent.

Higher food inflation from May to June 2024 was due to faster increases in vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses to 4.1% from 1.5%; in meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals to 3.0% from 1.8%; and in ready-made food and other food products not elsewhere classified to 7.6% from 6.5 percent.

“Poor and low-income families still bear the brunt of high cost of living. The token wage increase for workers — P35 — approved by the National Capital Region wage board is not even enough to buy a kilo of rice at current retail prices ranging from,” the KMP leader said. “The government can gloat all it want about this inflation slowdown, but the economic hardship endured by our kababayans is on full throttle.”

KMP expressed support to the legitimate call and demand of workers for the reestablishment of a national minimum wage based on the latest family living wage (FLW) computed at P1207 per day. The peasant group said it is unjust that workers in the agriculture sector are receiving wages way below than their counterparts in the non-agriculture sector due to the wage gaps enforced by the regional tripartite and productivity boards.

“Wages in regions outside NCR and for workers in the agriculture sector are much lower. Worse, there has been no significant increase in the real value of wages since the implementation of RA 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act in 1989. Filipino workers’ purchasing power had become stagnant across over three decades,” Ramos concluded.

As Marcos Jr’s 3rd SONA approaches, KMP said farmers will continue to assert lower price of rice and food, and higher wages for Filipino workers. They will continue the palengke protests and protest actions outside the Department of Agriculture.