Life appears to be getting harder for Bicolanos: just weeks after the region was reported as the slowest-growing economy in the Philippines in 2025, inflation in the Bicol Region nearly doubled in a single month. Inflation jumped to 7.6 percent in April 2026 from 4.1 percent in March—outpacing the national inflation rate of 7.2 percent—driven by sharply higher prices of food, transport,…
