PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan (PIA)--The fuel price and increase in secondary education services pushed the acceleration of the inflation rate in Puerto Princesa City and in the province of Palawan for the month of August.

Based on the monthly report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Palawan, the transport commodity group primarily influenced the uptrend in the provincial and city inflation rates. It contributed 0.2 percent in Palawan and 1.9 percent in Puerto Princesa.

Chief Statistical Specialist Maria Lalaine Rodriguez explained that the contributing factors to the increase are fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, passenger transport by road, and passenger transport by sea and inland waterways.

"Fuel, gasoline, at diesel yon ang nag-contribute sa pagtaas. Part lang ng transport ‘yong pamasahe sa tricycle at mga sasakyan– kung titingnan natin, ang pinakamalaking contribution under transport is the fuel," Rodriguez said.

The rate in Palawan increased to 5.9 percent from 5.5 percent in July 2023. It is almost twice the August 2022 rate of 10.2 percent. In Puerto Princesa, PSA recorded a rate of 3.3 percent, up from last month’s 2.9 percent. It is almost triple the August 2022 rate of 9.2 percent.

For Palawan, food and non-alcoholic beverages followed the transport sector as the second contributor to acceleration. Aside from fish and other seafood, the impact of the rainy season on the supply of vegetables such as eggplant and squash also puts pressure on the acceleration of the commodity group.

"Ang alam ko kasi parang tag-ulan na tayo, madaling masira ang talong kaya nabubulok agad, isa ‘yon sa naka-put pressure siguro," Rodriguez further said.

Rodriguez added that the observed price increase in markets has not yet been reflected in the collected data for the August 2023 computation of the inflation rate.

It was due to the remaining stocks of rice in the province and the city. It will be the same scenario for the next month’s computation if the government still has a buffer stock of rice in the month of September.

"Sa September, kung may buffer ang government ay hindi rin natin maka-count ‘yon dahil may certain period lang tayo in a month na nagko-collect ng data para comparable," she said.

In Puerto Princesa, the commodity group of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels followed transport at 0.9 percent.

The education services also contributed to the increase in both city and provincial rates. Rodriguez said that it was due to the increase in tuition fees in the private schools at the secondary level during the resumption of face-to-face classes in August. The movement of this commodity group is observable only once a year, she added.

The Mimaropa region also accelerated to 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent in July. It is a bit lower than the 7.1 in August 2022. (RPG/PIA Mimaropa-Palawan)