News Roundup 20 July 2022
Jul 20, 2022 • 5 min Read
Salceda: Measures for agri, inflation, jobs must be addressed in Bongbong Marcos’ Sona | INQUIRER.NET – The administration’s plans on how to counter problems in agriculture, inflation, and the lack of jobs should be the focus of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (Sona), Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said on Wednesday. During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Salceda said he agrees that the top concern must be agriculture, especially with most of the country’s food products being imported — and with local produce finding it hard to match up due to higher costs of production. Salceda, an economist by profession, gave local chicken as an example: according to the lawmaker, locally-grown chicken appeared thin because the prices of corn increased by 50 percent — which affected the poultry industry that uses corn as a feed for their livestock. “Ang pinaka problema natin diyan ay pagkain, halos lahat ng pagkain natin ay kulang at imported, asukal, imported na […] May chicken tayo pero malnourished– malnourished po ang chicken natin ngayon dahil ang presyo po ng corn ay tumaas na, 50 percent,” he said. “So I think he has to address that, that’s why he is the DA secretary. So ang dami, every single commodity in the agricultural sector I think has reached some problem — bananas, pineapples, even bawang, sibuyas, everything — I think he has to confront that. Agriculture is number one in his slate, in fact, food is number one in his slate,” he added. Next among the things that Marcos should prioritize is inflation, although Salceda admitted that a huge bulk of the country’s higher inflation rate is due to foreign movements.
Study says PH wages can buy lesser petrol as prices rise, pay is stagnant | INQUIRER.NET – How many liters of petrol can someone in the Asia and Pacific region buy for an average net monthly wage? Majority of countries in the region have seen record-breaking increases in petrol prices this year due to several factors. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the huge jumps in fuel prices, the increase in petrol prices was also attributed to rising crude oil prices—which is the base for petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, and other refined products. Kelly Hewitt, a principal energy specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB), said since early September 2021, crude oil prices have jumped from just over $70 to over $100 per barrel in two common international price benchmarks—Texas Intermediate and Brent. “The underlying problem is a shortage of oil and of refineries that produce gasoline,” Hewitt said. As fuel prices go up, the analysis website Picodi.com examined and calculated in its recently published report how many liters of petrol one can afford for an average wage in Asia-Pacific countries, including the Philippines. Among the Asia Pacific countries, Sri Lanka saw the highest increase in petrol prices in the first half of 2022. From January to June, fuel prices in that country rose by 129.5 percent. Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam followed Sri Lanka and were among the top five Asia Pacific countries with the highest increase in petrol prices—with an increase of 52.2 percent, 47.7 percent, 36.9 percent, and 36.8 percent, respectively.
Up to local government, not cops, to allow SONA protests or not | PHILSTAR.COM – It is actually up to the local government of Quezon City to decide on whether protests on the day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address will be allowed along Commonwealth Avenue and not the Philippine National Police, which has declared the highway a “no-rally” zone anyway. Section 6(a) of Batas Pambansa 880 or the Public Assembly Act of 1985 provides that the “mayor or any official acting in his behalf to issue or grant a permit unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the public assembly will create a clear and present danger to public order, public safety, public convenience, public morals or public health.” Permits are not needed for assemblies at designated freedom parks, like Liwasang Diokno in the Commission on Human Rights grounds along Commonwealth. “The LGU should provide evidence of clear and present danger to public safety (to justify banning protests). All we are hearing so far are arbitrary statements,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said Wednesday in a tweet. In the lead up to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address, then Interior Secretary Eduardo Año affirmed that deciding on whether to grant or deny rally permits is up to local governments. He made the statement after the Quezon City police declared that they had denied Bayan’s application to hold a rally. Reyes on Wednesday hit the PNP’s declaration of a no-rally zone along Commonwealth Avenue, saying that it “should not usurp the [Quezon City] mayor’s authority.” “The people intend to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and to air their grievances. The PNP should stop fearmongering,” Reyes said partly in Filipino. “What will happen on Monday is the SONA. Why does it seem like they’re preparing for war? Why are they so afraid?” It is still unclear as of publication what action the Quezon City government has taken on Bayan’s protest permit but activists have historically held protests along Commonwealth Avenue, although often at a considerable distance from the Batasan Pambansa complex where the House of Representatives is.
