25/03/2026
PRESS STATEMENT
Albay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
On the Need for a More Holistic Government Response to Rising Business Costs
The Albay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) expresses serious concern over the continuing rise in fuel, transport, and operating costs, and the heavy pressure this places on businesses, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
When costs rise, business capital effectively becomes smaller. The same amount of money can no longer buy the same quantity of goods, raw materials, or fuel. As a result, many businesses are forced to reduce inventory, shift to cash-basis purchasing, and operate on thinner margins simply to preserve working capital.
This creates a dangerous ripple effect throughout the economy.
When inventory levels go down, the cost per item goes up further because transportation charges are often fixed per trip or per truck, regardless of whether the load is full or reduced. If selling prices do not immediately adjust, retailers and distributors absorb the pressure through lower margins. At the same time, consumer demand weakens, purchasing power declines, and businesses remain burdened by fixed costs such as rent, utilities, debt obligations, and labor.
In this situation, survival decisions begin. And too often, labor becomes the first casualty.
This is why the present challenge must not be viewed only as a consumer issue. It is also a business continuity issue, a jobs issue, a supply issue, and ultimately an inflation issue.
This becomes even more urgent when we consider that MSMEs comprise the overwhelming majority of businesses in the Philippines. These enterprises employ millions of Filipinos, sustain local communities, and keep goods and services moving across the country. When MSMEs are squeezed, jobs are squeezed. When MSMEs struggle to maintain supply, the public eventually bears the cost.
For this reason, ACCI respectfully calls on government to move beyond short-term dole-out responses alone and adopt a more holistic and preventive economic intervention strategy.
We urge government to seriously consider the following measures:
First, provide emergency working capital support for MSMEs.
Businesses affected by sudden spikes in fuel and logistics costs need access to fast, affordable, and simplified financing so they can continue buying inventory, maintaining operations, and preserving jobs.
Second, extend targeted logistics and fuel support for essential goods and key sectors.
Helping stabilize the movement of food, medicine, and other basic commodities can reduce cost pressures before they are fully passed on to consumers.
Third, temporarily reduce or suspend government-imposed charges that add to business burden.
During extraordinary periods, regulatory fees, permit charges, and similar government-controlled costs should be reviewed to ease pressure on enterprises.
Fourth, strengthen real-time monitoring of prices, supply, and MSME distress.
Government must be able to detect business stress early, before shortages worsen, working capital dries up, and layoffs begin.
Fifth, consider measures that directly protect employment.
If the goal is to protect Filipino families, then preserving business continuity and preventing job losses must be part of the solution.
Sixth, review temporary tax relief measures at the national level.
ACCI urges the national government to evaluate the temporary suspension, reduction, or adjustment of excise tax, VAT, and other tax components that significantly drive up the cost of fuel, transport, and essential goods, where legally and fiscally feasible. At a time when rising costs are shrinking business capital and weakening consumer purchasing power, tax policy must be part of the solution, not an added burden.
In times of extraordinary cost pressure, government must not wait until businesses close, workers are displaced, and consumers suffer higher prices before acting decisively.
The better response is not only to help people cope with rising prices after the damage has already been felt. The better response is to help prevent prices from rising too much in the first place by supporting the businesses that keep goods moving, sustain employment, and serve communities.
If government truly wants to protect consumers, it must also protect the enterprises that keep the economy alive.
For ACCI, this is clear:
Protecting MSMEs is protecting jobs.
Protecting jobs is protecting families.
Protecting business continuity is protecting the economy.
