SWS survey: 59 percent of Pinoys affected by surging rice prices

The majority of Filipinos said that of the food items they bought in the last quarter of 2024, rice per kilo posted the highest increase and the government did not do enough to control inflation, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey, conducted from Jan. 17 to Jan. 20 and commissioned by the Stratbase Group, showed that 59 percent of the respondents identified rice as the food item they purchased from October to December 2024 whose price rose the highest.

On the other hand, 25 percent said it was meat products such as chicken, pork and beef; 11 percent cited vegetables; while four percent said it was seafood.

The survey results also showed that 58 percent believed the solutions provided by the government to control inflation were insufficient. Only 16 percent said they were sufficient while 19 percent said they were neither sufficient nor insufficient.

Dissatisfaction was highest in Mindanao with 65 percent followed by Metro Manila with 60 percent.

The SWS survey involved 1,800 respondents nationwide with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percent.

Steady inflation rate

Based on the Bantay Presyo Monitoring posted on the website of the Department of Agriculture covering the period from July 15 to July 20 last year—or around six months before the survey was conducted—the price per kilo of imported commercial rice was around P48.69 to P60.34 while local commercial rice was sold at P47.90 to P60.33 per kilo.

The prices remained stagnant as from Oct. 14 to Oct. 19, a kilo of imported commercial rice ranged from P45.35 to P59.88, and P46.77 to P60.44 for a kilo of local commercial rice.

Prices then slightly improved at the start of 2025, as from Jan. 13 to Jan. 18, a kilo of imported commercial rice sold from P42.38 to P57.89, and P42.17 to P59.49 per kilo of local commercial rice.

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On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistic Authority announced that inflation was at 2.9 percent last month, the same as December 2024.

For the National Economic and Development Authority, the steady inflation rate was a good indicator of the government’s commitment to ensure stable prices of food items.

However, Stratbase Institute president Dindo Manhit said the survey results showed a different picture from what Filipinos were truly experiencing.

Wake-up call

“Having majority of the Filipino people say this month that the government’s inflation control solutions are insufficient should be a wake-up call to our leaders. These numbers are the reason why the public’s trust toward the government is continuously declining,” he said.