Bohol’s inflation woes
The latest Inflation Report released by the Philippine
Statistics Office (PSA) for July shows the lingering problem
of increasing prices in food and housing.
Although inflation in the province has consistently
declined in 7 months’ time, now at 4.1 percent compared
to 5.0 in June this year, inflation in basic commodities has
contributed to the headline inflation.
The top three commodity groups contributing to the
July 2023 overall inflation of 4.2 percent were: (a) Food
and non-alcoholic beverages with 62.1 percent share or
2.6 percentage points; (b) Housing, water, electricity, gas,
and other fuels at 19.8 percent share or 0.8 percentage
points; and (c) Restaurants and accommodation services
at 11.7 percent share or 0.5 percentage point.
Let’s admit it. Restaurants and accommodation
services are becoming out of reach to most Boholanos due
to increasing demands in the tourism industry. Today,
Bohol is proud to have fancy places for fine dining, but
only a handful of Boholanos can afford these
establishments’ expensive services.
The data released by the PSA confirm what every
Boholano has been complaining about that food is
expensive in the province, with a 62.1 percent share in the
headline inflation. The main culprits are cereals and
cereal products (42.6%); vegetables, tubers, plantains,
cooking bananas, and pulses (21.2%); and meat and
other parts of slaughtered land animals (14.4%).
With 66.54% of land devoted to agriculture based on
the Bohol Agriculture Master Plan, the province may not
be substantially deficient in resources for the production of
these food products.
The Strategic Governance Roadmap 2025 of the
Province of Bohol is positioning Bohol as a smart-resilient
province advancing climate-smart agriculture and
sustainable tourism. Climate-smart agriculture aims to
transition from conventional agricultural practices to
climate-smart agriculture.
Whatever climate-smart agriculture means, Boholanos
will consider this strategic change agenda successful when
the prices of rice, vegetables, and meat are within reach
of the ordinary people in the province.
Will climate-smart agriculture solve our long-time
woes? Our government officials must lay down concrete
steps to solve the problem. Beyond lip service, they must
deliver the intended results.