Govt policies to fight inflation helped poor - NAPC

MANILA, Philippines: PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s policies and directives to combat inflation helped more Filipinos overcome hunger and poverty, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said.

NAPC Secretary Lope Santos III said that the government «defied the odds» amid the «doom projections due to the El Niño and spikes in oil and rice prices, all which would have made for the perfect storm that would drive up hunger and poverty.»

Santos made the remark after OCTA Research reported that from September 30 to October 4, more than 1.3 million Filipino families said they overcame hunger, while 1 million families overcame poverty.

The NAPC chief also attributed this to the 5.9 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the third quarter as well as the taming of the inflation rate which slowed down to 4.9 percent.

«Against these odds, the opposite has happened: both poverty and hunger have dipped. There is no better validation of the direction the government has taken than these critical benchmarks,» he said.

«This success can also be attributed in part to the convergence of programs, projects and services of National Government Agencies, Local Government Units, the basic sectors, and private sector in addressing poverty and hunger,» Santos added.

The President in the past months ordered pertinent government agencies to implement more stringent measures against rice smuggling and hoarding.

He tasked the Department of Agriculture to strengthen the rice production of Filipino farmers and directed the National Food Authority to buy rice from Filipino farmers at a higher price.

Marcos likewise suspended the collection of pass-through fees of vehicles carrying agricultural products, decreasing the costs of logistics to bring food from the farms to the markets.

Santos said that these developments must be sustained to attain Marcos' vision of long lasting food security and poverty alleviation.

«These trajectories will only be sustained by the right policies which prioritize the welfare of the people,» he said.