“Do not take it with alarm. We don’t panic.”

This was President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s response after he was asked about the new historic low of the peso-dollar exchange rate.

In an ambush interview on Wednesday, October 28, the president vowed that the government will do all that it can to defend the Philippine peso, as it continues to weaken versus the dollar, reaching P64.17.

The president cited the rising prices of oil and fuel, including their effect on the economy, as a result of the weakening peso.

“People can take solace in the fact that our policy towards the peso is to continue to defend the peso as hard as we possibly can,” Marcos assured.

“We have all the tools to defend the peso, we have all the means to defend the peso, and with that in mind, we will continue to do all that we can to make sure that the value of the peso does not continue to go down,” he added.

Despite this, Marcos emphasized that the country’s foreign exchange reserves are healthy.

When it comes to the price of basic goods, the president said that monetary measures can only go so far, adding that inflation is coming from the supply side.

“Basically, oil we can do nothing about; for food we can, and we are doing everything that we can to make sure that the prices of food come down,” he said.

On Tuesday, October 27, the Philippine peso-U.S. dollar exchange rate slid to a new historic low at P64.17, after it opened at P64 during intraday trading, according to the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP).