ILOILO CITY – Interventions by the government helped ease the April inflation rate in Western Visayas, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Tuesday.

The inflation rate in the region in April was at 1.9 percent from 2.7 percent in March, according to a report of Statistical Specialist I Miguel Gallego.

The downtrend was due to the slower inflation in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.9 percent from 2.5 percent in March; transport at -2.1 percent from -1.1 percent; and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 3.7 percent from 4.1 percent in March.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels commodity has a 33.4 percent share of the headline inflation; while food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity has a 21.2 percent share.

Gallego said that in terms of food and non-alcoholic beverages, the biggest contributor was cereal and cereal products, particularly rice, with an inflation rate of -5.3 percent.

He said contributing to the slower food inflation was the harvest season in the first quarter of the year, alongside the effects of government interventions in lowering the price of rice.

“Rice has the biggest weight in our commodities,” he said.

Since the start of the second half of 2024, the Department of Agriculture has launched several programs that aim to provide cheaper rice directly to the vulnerable sectors under the Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) initiative. These include the “P29” program in July and the “Rice for All” in August last year.

On May 1, the “Benteng Bigas Mayroon (BBM) Na” program or PHP20 per kilo rice was launched in Cebu.

The KNP initiative also expanded access to cheaper vegetables and other agricultural products.

At the same time, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s decision to reduce rice import tariffs was successful in reducing inflation.

Gasoline is also cheaper, while electricity recorded slower inflation.

Looking at the trend, Gallego said the inflation rate is on the decline and even lower when compared with the 4.1 percent rate in April 2024.

Compared with the rest of the regions in the country, Western Visayas has the third highest inflation, a rank lower compared with last month’s movement of prices.

Except for Guimaras, which has increased inflation, all other provinces and highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas recorded slower inflation.

Iloilo province registered the highest at 3.2 percent from last month’s 4.2 percent, while Antique has the lowest at -1.6 percent.