The Ukraine conflict is compounding in a multitude of ways the already upward and alarming trajectory of overall food prices.
War and hunger: Ukraine crisis and food insecurity in Asia
Arnold Padilla
Analysis | Record oil price hikes: People must rage against neoliberalism
According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), there is “no physical shortage” of oil. So, what is happening then? As in the case of major oil price volatilities this century, excessive speculation in the oil derivatives markets is pushing up prices, not the disruptions in oil’s actual or physical trading.
Analysis | Beyond fuel taxes, regulate and nationalize the oil industry
A 20-passenger jeepney usually has a full tank capacity of 60 liters, which means that the driver is spending ?1,107 ($21.83) more to fill up his tank. That is equivalent to about 29 kilos of rice – or two weeks’ worth of the regular consumption of a five- to six-member household.
Analysis | Why are oil prices rising, and what we can we do about it?
Overpriced gasoline and diesel, for instance, gave oil firms an estimated P38.47 billion (US$757.13 million) in additional income, of which P4.62 billion ($90.93 million) went to the government as value-added tax (VAT).
#Undoing Duterte | Ordinary folk burdened with higher taxes, price hikes, stagnant wages
The Duterte regime may spin the narratives on the economy all they want. But all indicators show that the country is in a much worse shape today than when it took over in 2016.
#UndoingDuterte | Duterte’s economic legacy: Crisis worse than pandemic
Data show that the policies and programs of Duterte continued and inflamed the structural crisis of our economy. To be sure, the pandemic made it more acute. But make no mistake – Duterte’s economic legacy is far worse than the pandemic.
In Southeast Asia, income woes most severe, economic aid most lacking in PH
More than half of Filipino households said that if they lose all of their income sources, their resources to cover daily needs could only last up to two weeks.
Duterte backers, other oil firms rake in millions from overpricing amid pandemic
It can be guesstimated that the total additional profits generated by the oil firms from overpricing gasoline and diesel is about P142.50 million a day. Of this amount, P17.10 million went to government in the form of the 12 percent value-added tax (VAT).
Why is the Food Systems Summit silent on corporate land grabs?
Indeed, there is a need, as the Asia Peasant Coalition puts it, for the farmers “to organize and mobilize for our own people’s summit together with other marginalized and oppressed sectors that suffer the gravest hunger and poverty because of imperialist control and domination over the world’s food and agriculture.”
#DutertePalpak: PH worst in Southeast Asia in COVID-19 response amid surge in new cases
But what is even more alarming for Filipinos is that amid the surge in new COVID-19 cases, the response of the Duterte government to the pandemic more than a year into the crisis remains grossly inadequate and incompetent. While implementing the strictest and longest lockdown in the region, the Philippines continues to lag behind our neighbors in Southeast Asia in actually responding to the pandemic.
A weaponized justice system brings the worst injustices
This latest spate of attacks against activists came a mere nine weeks since the PNP launched a similar operation in Panay island. Nine people were killed and 17 were arrested by the police in several indigenous Tumandok communities on Dec 30, 2020.