As the nation watches the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte unfold, the Marcos administration should not lose sight of the urgent need to provide substantial economic relief to millions of Filipinos struggling with soaring prices, weak incomes, and inadequate public services. If the government does not go beyond its current limited response, more Filipinos will be pushed into poverty as inflation continues to erode already meager household incomes.
The urgency is underscored by the country’s worsening economic conditions. Inflation accelerated to 7.2% in April 2026, the highest in three years, driven by rising food, transport, and utility costs. Economic growth slowed to 2.8% in the first quarter, while job generation remains weak, and wages continue to lag far behind the rising cost of living.
There are an estimated 14.4 million poor and low-income families living on Php22,000 or less per month, and another 7 million lower-middle-income families earning between Php22,000 and Php36,000 monthly. These families are highly vulnerable to further price increases.
Some 1.7 million to 2.2 million lower-middle-income families, or those earning only around Php20,000 to Php23,000 a month and just barely above the poverty line, could slip into poverty if inflation persists and the government fails to provide meaningful relief. These are families whose incomes are only a few thousand pesos above the poverty threshold. Continued increases in the prices of food, fuel, transport, electricity, and water can quickly wipe out this narrow buffer and push them into poverty.
The administration’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport (UPLIFT) program, however, allocates limited amounts to only a limited number of beneficiaries despite the scale of need. Of over 2.2 million tricycle, jeepney, delivery motorcycle, mototaxi, and TNVS drivers, for instance, only around 1.25 million have received the meager one-time Php5,000 assistance, while barely half a million have received fuel subsidies. The Php1.5-billion assistance package for farmers and fisherfolk is expected to reach only 70,000 beneficiaries out of some 10.9 million listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.
The government needs to go beyond token assistance and adopt measures that provide immediate and substantial relief. These include suspending or removing both excise taxes and value-added tax on oil, imposing stronger price controls against profiteering, legislating a substantial wage hike, expanding subsidies for vulnerable sectors, and rethinking policies that have failed to bring prices down while allowing the country’s wealthiest corporations to reap huge profits.
Millions of Filipinos are just a few more price increases away from poverty. The government must act decisively to lower prices, raise incomes, and deliver meaningful assistance before more families are pushed over the edge.###