President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he does not think that special powers to curb inflation are necessary.
In a chance interview with the media, Marcos said he already has the power to declare an emergency and control the prices of commodities.
"So, I don't think there's any need for more than that, that is efficient," he said.
According to Marcos, inflation will remain sky-rocketing high as fuel prices have not yet eased.
"Hindi bumababa ang fuel prices. Wala tayo magagawa sa fuel, pero sa agrikultura, noong nakaraang it was 28 percent pero ngayon 11 percent na lang. Ayun ang malaking bagay," he said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country's inflation rate for the month of February will remain elevated, ranging between 8.5 to 9.3 percent, exceeding the record-high 8.7 percent in January.
According to BSP's forecast, February's inflation drivers will be food items, such as pork, fish, egg, and sugar as well as Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices.
On Tuesday, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo re-floated the idea of giving Marcos, the current Agriculture chief, the special powers to control inflation during the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on Tuesday.
"There are more nuanced questions such as: Should Congress insist on the re-convening of the inter-agency unit on economic intelligence to intensify enforcement against agriculture cartels which have been engaged in hoarding and price manipulation? Should Congress grant the Department of Agriculture or the President additional powers to enforce food price stabilization measures? If so, what are these?" she said.
Last year, Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. “Joey” Salceda proposed to grant Marcos special powers as he noted that this will resolve the high inflation rate in just one year.
