SEN. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday called for stronger economic buffers and comprehensive policy reforms to prevent Filipino families from falling back into poverty amid rising inflation and slowing economic growth.
Hontiveros made the call during a public hearing of the Ad Hoc Committee on Reinvigorate Investment and Sustainable Economic Growth (RISE) on Thursday.
The senator cited the country’s 6.1 percent headline inflation in August, rising fuel and transportation costs, logistics bottlenecks and underemployment as factors that can place vulnerable households under additional financial strain.
She also pointed to World Bank estimates showing that nearly 28 percent of Filipinos may fall back into poverty following economic shocks.
“When an economy has too few or no buffers at all, Filipino families absorb every shock,” Hontiveros said. “So our urgent task is clear: make sure Filipinos do not fall back into poverty every time a crisis hits.” Hontiveros identified limited productive capacity as one of the country’s major economic constraints, citing high electricity, agricultural and logistics costs.
She also pointed to the Philippines’ limited capacity to build economic buffers against external shocks, including global oil price disruptions, geopolitical tensions and the effects of El Niño.
Hontiveros said economic resilience is also closely linked to governance and the credibility of public institutions.
"There can be no economic growth if businesses do not have the confidence to invest capital in our country," she said, arguing that investor confidence depends in part on effective and credible institutions.
Hontiveros called for continued efforts to address corruption and red tape and for reforms aimed at making government more efficient, fair and effective.
The senator said the government should pursue both short-term measures to ease the burden of rising prices and longer-term reforms designed to strengthen the economy.
She urged policymakers to explore possible economic support for households facing immediate pressures while investing in manufacturing, exports and quality jobs to expand productive capacity and improve economic resilience.
