In my previous article, I mentioned that the national inflation rate is projected to soar at 6% by the 4th quarter of this year. I was wrong. The national inflation rate rose to 6.4% in August. Bicol Regional has a record high of 9.0% of the same month. Read:
Read more: Inflation hits 9-year year high....
As usual, the country's economic managers would attribute this inflation to various outside forces, high price of crude oil, weakening peso, heightening trade war between the U.S. and China among others.
Historically, inflation rises as election season is nearing. The heightening election fever exacerbates the already rising inflation. As election atmosphere is heating up, politicians had to maneuver to raise funds for their campaign expenses, including dipping their fingers into the national coffer. This may include control in the circulation of money and funds to focus on projects and activities where they can gain, discreetly, media mileage...."pa-pogi points".
Indicative of this was the attempt of the House of Representatives to delay the 2019 budget hearing and revert back to multi-year obligation-based budgeting where they can manipulate budgets allocated for certain projects and utilize them for their election campaign expenses.
Heard from the grapevines...
Barangay San Nicolas is celebrating a week-long festival in honor of its patron saint, San Nicolas de Tolentino, with lavish and extravagant series of activities and events... a miniature version of Kamuy-An Festival. Rumors have it that the events are being financed and/or sponsored by a group of politicians vying for a positions in the provincial, district and municipal levels whose propaganda materials sprouted suddenly and is decorating the whole of barangay . Cash assistance is also pouring in from individual politicians and aspiring ones. Further heard that the festivities are becoming a campaign platform of this groups.
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