Rising prices

I remember a time when I used to gather the remains of my P20 daily allowance in order to save up and buy a cassette tape. I was struggling in my pre-teenage years and wanted so bad to have my own copy of Britney Spears' and Mandy Moore's records; it was a plus then to show off to your friends. As the years went by, the P150 value of the cassette tape shrank and such technology ceased to exist.

What can P150 buy today? Well, you if one would really force it, you could eat three times a day but at a low-cost eatery that doesn't even give you the nutrients you need. If an average Filipino only earns that much, I wonder how he can feed his family. While P150 isn't the correct comparison to start with, I am driving at a point to make us realize that the average Filipino's life is starting to become difficult. The inflation rate is really bad and companies are either downsizing or closing. It is really a bad time for the Philippine economy.

But we can't purely blame the government, right? I feel like every time I do, I get a surge of comments from those who relentlessly support them. We are faced with the consequences of the pandemic which is dwindling the economy. Every step we take must be a balance between keeping the safety of the people and making sure that money comes in. It is such a dismay that we have to suffer from the rise of prices that have been taking a toll on everyone's budget.

But they say 2021 is going to be a great year for us, I don't know about that part or if we can go back to the way we were. It seems like we are slowly adapting to the new normal which has been the goal of everyone else. I'm just scared that we will be losing everything and everyone we have.

Now we are faced with the prices of basic commodities going up, such as pork and all other forms of meat. We are also threatened by the African Swine Fever. Thanks to swift government response, they are now banning the entry of these swine products. It will be hard to go around but it will also take time for us to heal, not just from the pandemic but also high prices.

I guess getting on from here is punching the air as we are really uncertain how the trend of the economy would go. I only hope that soon enough we will reclaim once again the glory days of how businesses used to be and that everyone will find a job. As of now, I could say, it is truly survival of the fittest.