Ventura, Lary Lou E.

If I could think of an economic issue which is a huge concern today, that would be the
continuous inflating of goods. As years go by, the value of peso seem to decrease and one effect that
the decrease in peso would result to is inflation. As the value of money decreases, the price of goods
increases.

Proof evidencing the increase in inflation rate, taken from the site below:

https://tradingeconomics.com/articles/10052018012905.html

Philippines Inflation Rate at 9-1/2-Year High of 6.7% in September

The Philippines' annual inflation rate rose to 6.7 percent in September of 2018 from 6.4 percent in the
previous month, and compared to market expectations of 6.8 percent. It is the highest reading since
February 2009, due to a surge in prices of food and a faster rise cost of transport.

Year-on-year, prices of heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 9.7 percent
in September, following a 8.5 percent in August and marking the highest food inflation since March
2009.

In addition, upward prices pressure came from: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (21.8 percent from
21.6 percent in August); clothing and footwear (2.5 from 2.4 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas
and other fuels (4.6 percent from 5.5 percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine
maintenance (3.6 percent from 3.5 percent); health (4.1 percent from 4 percent); transport (8 percent
from 7.8 percent); communication (0.5 percent from 0.5 percent); recreation and culture (3 percent
from 2.4 percent); and restaurant & miscellaneous goods and services (4 percent from 4 percent). On
the other hand, cost continued to fall for education (-3.8 percent vs -3.8 percent).

On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.8 percent, after a 0.9 percent rise in August. Prices
increased for: food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.8 percent); alcoholic beverages & tobacco (0.4
percent); clothing and footwear (0.3 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.4
percent); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (0.3 percent); health
(0.2 percent); transport (0.9 percent); and restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services (0.4
percent), and education (0.1 percent). Meanwhile, inflation was flat for: communication; recreation
and culture; and education.

In March 2018, Philippine Statistics Authority decided to rebase CPI series to 2012 from 2006 in
order to accommodate the economic changes in the country.The central bank set an inflation target
range of between 2 to 4 percent from 2018 to 2020.