A cost of living crisis is unfolding all over the globe, and as the price of everything shoots up here in the Philippines, it isn’t hard to believe that we won’t be spared from it, even as our country is still recovering from the devastation wrought to our economy by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ripple effects of the war Ukraine have disrupted food and energy markets, and as prices of good and commodities have steadily risen throughout the course of 2022, it is already obvious that those in poverty or near-poverty are going to be hardest hit if the trend is not somehow reversed.
Household budgets have been tightening as the prices of food and fuel constantly rise and incomes stay static. While the privileged have been able to absorb the impacts of rising prices for the meantime, we can only imagine what it is doing to the poorest households and how many more people are going hungry and losing opportunities during these difficult times.
Here in the Philippines, it seems that everything is becoming much more expensive. Fuel is the most obvious one because we see fuel prices being posted by gasoline stations along the roadside and many of us worry what will happen to their display stands that are designed to handle only 4 digits (including centavos) once prices hit the hundred mark.
Aside from fuel, we have also seen the price of food shoot up over the past few years. The price of pork belly has almost doubled, putting the business model of unli samgyupsal restos in danger. Cooking oil has also been on an upward trend, and now, a chicken shortage in fast food joints means that chicken is also going to be more expensive. While Filipinos with buffer funds, savings and plundered riches have the funds to weather this storm, there are millions in this country whose hand to mouth existence is being made especially difficult by the rising prices which has not been matched by increased incomes.
We can do whatever we can as citizens, but this is ultimately the problem that our elected government officials have to face and solve. And given the complexity of the problem, I am starting to think that those who lost the recent elections are probably relieved that they don’t have to face these problems anymore. As for those who convinced the Filipino voter to put them in charge, this is going to test their mettle. Hopefully they are up to the task because if our new set of leaders end up lacking the capability, qualifications and wherewithal to come up with the right solutions, we may have to brace for the worst by looking at what has happened at Sri Lanka over the past few days.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is suffering its worst economic crisis in almost a hundred years. Its government owes $51 billion and is currently unable to make even just the interest payments on its loans. Aside from its industries suffering from the pandemic, its currency has collapsed by 80%, making imports more expensive, worsening inflation, and debt servicing almost impossible.
It is a country hurtling towards bankruptcy with hardly any money to import gasoline, milk, cooking gas and toilet paper.
Compounding its problems are the quality of its leaders, who have been accused of political corruption. Poor leaders resulted in the country’s wealth being squandered as well as make any financial rescue plan difficult due to the lack of trust in such leaders. Analysts say any assistance from the IMF or World Bank to bail it out of its rut will need strict conditions to make sure the aid isn’t mismanaged.
Economists say the real culprit behind the Sri Lankan crisis is years of mismanagement and corruption. Much of the public anger has been directed towards the Rajapaksa brothers, who served as Prime Minister and President. The former resigned in May after violent protests and the latter fled a few days ago after protestors stormed his official residence, in scenes reminiscent of our own Malacañang in 1986.
What happened in Sri Lanka is a sobering example of what can happen to a country that puts the wrong people in charge. Things shouldn’t have gotten so bad that the Rajapaksa brothers had to be kicked out if in the first place they only chose the right leaders who wouldn’t squander their nation’s wealth and make the wrong decisions that led to the financial ruin of an entire country.
Hopefully our current crop of leaders have learned the lessons of history, along with those of current events as our country navigates these treacherous times, when it seems like crisis after crisis threatens to sink not just the Philippines, but all other vulnerable and developing nations in the planet.
They wanted to be in charge, now that they got it, let’s hope that they have what it takes to bring us to the promised land, and not to the purgatory that Sri Lankans are going through right now.*
