Before the present rice crisis broke out, the multitudes of ordinary Filipinos had already been hard-up, with wages lying way below the costs of living. Their plight has worsened with the steep rise in prices of rice – the country’s staple food – and other food products, as well as that of oil, a prime commodity. Add to that the impending increases in power rates and Juan de la Cruz – the Filipino Everyman – will soon be in much worse straits. The relentlessly soaring prices of goods and services are draining his pockets and surely rendering him penniless.
BY FLON FAURILLO
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008
