Guimaras inflation rises to 4.9% in August

ILOILO CITY — Guimaras’ inflation rate rose to 4.9% in August 2026 from 4.6% in July but remained among the lowest in Western Visayas.

Philippine Statistics Authority Guimaras Supervising Statistical Specialist Vicente Geonanga presented the figures Sept. 14, noting that the province’s inflation remained below the regional rate of 8.4% and the national rate of 6.1%.

National inflation eased to 6.1% in August from 6.2% in July, while Western Visayas inflation accelerated to 8.4% from 7.8%.

Guimaras recorded the second-lowest inflation rate among the region’s five provinces, next to Capiz at 3.8%.

Iloilo posted inflation of 9.7%, Antique 10.3%, and Aklan 10.7%, according to the PSA Western Visayas regional report.

Geonanga said Guimaras began the year with negative inflation before turning positive and accelerating in succeeding months.

The rate stood at -0.6% in January before rising to 0.4% in February and 1.6% in March.

Inflation climbed further to 4.4% in April and 4.7% in May before reaching a period high of 5.1% in June.

The rate eased to 4.6% in July before rising to 4.9% in August.

The August increase was mainly driven by higher prices for transport; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance.

Transport posted the sharpest annual increase at 24.2%, up from 22% in July.

Inflation for furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance rose to 5.6% from 1.5%.

Inflation for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels increased to 2.9% from 1%.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco also posted faster inflation at 7.7%, compared with 7% in July.

Clothing and footwear inflation rose to 4% from 3.8%.

Meanwhile, inflation for food and nonalcoholic beverages slowed to 2.9% from 3.6%.

Health inflation dropped to 3.5% from 5.4%.

Information and communication inflation eased to 1.7% from 1.8%.

Transport was the largest contributor to the province’s overall inflation, accounting for 36.5%, or 1.79 percentage points.

Food and nonalcoholic beverages followed with a 30% share, or 1.47 percentage points.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco contributed 8.1%, or 0.40 percentage point.

“We all know that since the Middle East conflict started, oil prices have gone up, and transportation fares have also increased. We are still feeling the brunt of these increases, which is why we recorded high inflation in the transportation sector,” Geonanga said.

To cushion the impact, Geonanga advised consumers to spend prudently, prioritize essential goods and services, and make informed purchasing decisions.

Provincial Economic Development Officer Francis Gentoral said the higher inflation rate remained a concern but was still below the regional and national figures.

“Given the higher inflation in major commodity groups, we need to sustain government interventions, including subsidies and support programs for rice, transportation, and other essential sectors, to help ease the impact of rising prices on households,” he said.

Gentoral also called for increased local food production, stronger initiatives such as KADIWA, and continued price monitoring to help keep essential commodities affordable.

Guimaras’ year-to-date inflation rate from January through August stood at 3.1%.

The province’s purchasing power of the peso remained at PHP 0.72 in August, unchanged since April.

A purchasing power of PHP 0.72 means PHP 1 in August 2026 could buy roughly the same amount of goods and services that PHP 0.72 could buy in the 2018 base year.

The inflation figures were based on the PSA’s Retail Price Survey of Commodities, which is used to generate the Consumer Price Index.