Economists quoted by broadsheets and social media invariably agree that inflation at 6.4 percent reached a nine-year high this August. Some attributed this to increases in the prices of food, utilities, petroleum products, or domestic supply bottlenecks which resulted in higher prices of food items like rice, meats, vegetables, fish and even the once lowly galunggong.
Nonfood inflation has been blamed on higher electricity rates and increases in pump prices of oil. The peso weakness (which has remained at a 12-year low of 53 to the dollar) also contributed to price pressures. The country’s economic managers claim that the surge in global oil prices has been the main driver of inflation. There is, of course, the continuing bad weather, which has caused shortness in supply of basic commodities, principally rice, compounded by the age old problem of hoarding by rice cartels, garlic cartels and all sorts of cartels. And the mother (father) of all our miseries—Train 1, which has been blamed by all for the increase in prices of everything.
If the government were to do a reality check, it should be apparent (without need of a Harvard/UP Economics Degree) that we are now facing an economic crisis in the level of national emergency. I do not mean the “State of National Emergency on account of Lawless Violence” referred to in Presidential Proclamation 55 Series of 2016 declared by President Duterte to enable him to deal with the threats to national security in Mindanao. We do not need another such proclamation, even if Joma Sison and Sen. Sonny Trillanes become a constant pain in the “posterior” of our President.
We need to look at Section 17, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution on National Economy and Patrimony, which says:
“In times of national emergency, when the public interest so requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interests.”
The country needs a president with strong political will and with public interests at heart to declare “under reasonable terms prescribed by it” an “economic national emergency” and “temporarily take over or direct operation of any privately owned public utilities or business affected with public interest.”
There is historical precedent for a president to exercise such emergency powers in times of economic crisis. On December 20, 1989, Congress passed Republic Act (RA) 6826 to give some emergency powers to President Cory Aquino arising from the coup d ’etat she faced during the December 1, 1989, rebellion committed by certain elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines aided and abetted by civilians.
To be continued