Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel III told the country's economic managers to focus on the solutions to the rising inflation in the Philippines, noting the "lack of concrete plans and swift action" to address the problem.
In a statement on Wednesday, Pimentel said that all hands should be on deck to address the serious problem of inflation instead of hastening solutions on the Maharlika Fund.
He added that he has not seen a firm plan or roadmap to address the issue, emphasizing that the economic managers could see the symptoms of worsening inflation starting with the sugar crises during the second half of 2022, followed by the onion crises in the last quarter.
According to Pimentel, if only the government put measures in place to check and bolster agricultural production and motivate small farmers and food producers, food inflation would not be as high as 11.2 percent.
The country's inflation was pushed to an all-time high of 8.7 percent since the 9.1 percent record in November 2008 due to high costs of food, housing rentals, electricity, and water.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he expects that the country's "unfortunate" inflation rate would ease by the second quarter of 2023.
