HOUSE deputy minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio on Thursday criticized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for the public not to panic over economic conditions, saying the administration was projecting control despite forecasts of further peso depreciation through the next year.
“Don’t panic, you say? He is posturing as if the administration is in control of the situation, when analysts say the peso’s decline will likely continue until 2027, potentially reaching P65 to P66 against the dollar,” Tinio said in Filipino in a statement.
He warned that further depreciation would worsen the burden of high prices on ordinary Filipinos, as a weaker peso could increase the cost of imported goods and other commodities.
“The suffering caused by high prices, which the majority of Filipinos will endure, will only worsen,” he lamented.
The lawmaker cited investors’ lack of confidence in the economy under the Marcos administration as a significant factor behind the peso’s weakness.
Tinio blamed the economy’s woes on the lack of industrialization and a developed agricultural sector, saying these reflected the Marcos administration’s failure to implement an effective economic plan.
Marcos on Wednesday urged Filipinos not to panic after the peso hit a record intraday low of P64.18 against the US dollar, citing rising global oil prices and fuel costs as factors behind the currency’s weakness.
The chief executive also assured the public that the government had the means to defend the peso.
