GUIMARAS – Headline inflation in this island province moved back into positive territory in February, registering at 0.4 percent after a brief dip into the negatives to start the year. According to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the figure is a notable shift from the -0.6 percent recorded in January this year.
Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare reported that while the monthly trend is rising, the year-to-date inflation rate for Guimaras currently stands at -0.1 percent. She emphasized that despite the upward movement, the province’s inflation remains significantly lower than the national average of 2.4 percent and the Western Visayas regional rate of 3.0 percent.
She said the upward movement in inflation in February was primarily influenced by faster annual price increases in selected commodity groups, particularly food and non-alcoholic beverages moving to -3.2 percent from -4.2 percent in January. Within this group, cereals and cereal products — specifically rice — remained the most significant contributors to the overall movement.
Other sectors that saw accelerated price hikes included:
* Housing, water, electricity, and gas: inflation in this sector rose to 1.2 percent, up from -0.4 percent in January.
* Transport and health: Both categories saw faster increases, with transport hitting 6.0 percent and health reaching 6.4 percent.
* Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: Prices in this group rose to 6.1 percent from 5.4 percent.
In contrast, only two commodity groups recorded slower inflation rates in February: the recreation, sport and culture with -1.9 percent from 0.7 percent, and the personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, with 1.0 percent from 1.5 percent, respectively.
Losare also highlighted that inflation is derived from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures changes in the average prices of goods and services commonly purchased by households over time.
The CPI for the province in February was recorded at 133.8. This means a typical Guimarasnon household would need P1,338 in February 2026 to purchase the same basket of goods and services that cost P1,000 in 2018, the base year used in computing the CPI.
The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in the province remained at P0.75 in February 2026, indicating that P1.00 in 2018 was equivalent to only P0.75 worth of goods and services during the month./PN
