As a student myself, I have felt the unavoidable impact of lowered purchasing power because of raised prices. As someone who commutes to and from school, that’s 15 kilometers away from home, with the need to hop onto several vehicles along the way, the doubled fare prices mandated by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board have led me to ask my mother for an allowance raise. My usual P500 weekly allowance pre-pandemic was bumped to P1,000 just to meet the demands of commuting expenditures. At least half of my allowance is allocated to public transportation expenses.
However, my story comes with privilege. There are students who don’t have parents who can provide for their additional needs and are at a great disadvantage in fulfilling their academic pursuits efficiently. Several news outlets have covered how students cope with inflation in the country, including cutting back on necessities just to meet the high demand prices of food, dormitory rent, and tuition. Considerations of applying for part-time jobs are also prevalent among college students as compensation for their daily expenses. Students must be provided the liberty to pursue education sans the worries of making ends meet due to the government’s inefficiency to address issues that affect them. With hybrid learning and the transition to in-person classes occurring, students must be aided with the corresponding groundwork by the government for them to acquire quality education and attain stability in their studies.
Academic-related pressures brought about by inflation are happening concurrently, while the government downplays the economic hurdles of the masses. If our policymakers turn a blind eye to the potentially devastating effects of a sustained rise in overall price levels, we might face a recession.
The government must use its resources and power to address the concerns of its citizens amid increasing prices. To wait for the “inflation balloon” to pop is synonymous to gloom and doom.
Mary Seantheim Chillin A. Patnubay,
Aklan, Western Visayas