House Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed to pursue investigations aimed at eventually bringing down prices of rice and other food items as well as electricity rates.
“Good governance demands transparency and accountability. This chamber is the vanguard of that principle. In the coming weeks, we will hold oversight hearings to ensure that the people’s money serves the people’s needs,” he told his colleagues as the 19th Congress resumed session on Monday.
Romualdez said the chamber intends to investigate the smuggling and hoarding that undermine Filipino farmers and inflate food prices, among other issues.
They would also “demand answers for P11.18 billion worth of expired medicines and underutilized PhilHealth funds – an affront to every Filipino who struggles for access to healthcare,” he said.
“And we will scrutinize the alleged misuse of confidential funds, for no peso must go unaccounted for,” he added.
The assurances came as the Quinta Committee and the Committee on Ways and Means began looking into the high cost of rice, other agricultural products, and similar issues.
Specifically, the mega panel is focused on agricultural smuggling, hoarding, and price manipulation, which have been identified as key factors driving food inflation.
For his part, Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said the legislative branch wants to have more teeth to use against profiteers and other unscrupulous individuals and cartels.
“We will continue to strengthen the power of Congress to go after irregularities that make things difficult for our people. We will not let this ill practice go on just like this to affect prices of food and electricity go up,” he said on Sunday.
“We are uncovering the mechanisms that allow cartels to thrive, and this House is determined to dismantle these networks of greed,” Gonzales added.
Meanwhile, the Speaker said economic forecasts leave much room for optimism despite inflationary pressures in part caused by last year’s series of storms.
He said early projections indicate “a solid growth rate in the range of 5.9 percent to 6.5 percent, despite the challenges brought about by a series of typhoons and global economic uncertainties.”
“This growth is the fruit of visionary leadership under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his transformative Build, Better, More infrastructure program, which injected over P1.2 trillion into projects that now connect dreams to opportunities across the archipelago,” he said.
Still, Romualdez admitted that despite quantifiable economic progress, inflation remained a big challenge.
“Thanks to decisive action, inflation eased to 4.9 percent, but the burden remains heavy for many families. Programs like Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) and Kadiwa ng Pangulo were launched not just as economic interventions but as expressions of our empathy. Governance, after all, must be both strategic and compassionate,” he said.
It was pointed out that key measures enacted before Congress went into recess include: the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE), the Self-reliant Defense Posture Act, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, the Philippine Archipelagic Sea lanes Act, and the closely-related Philippine Maritime Zones Act, and the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Act.
“These are not just policies – they are commitments to a better, fairer, and stronger nation,” Romualdez said.