A 1941 housewife off to the Bacolod Public Market will be appalled to find out that, in 2023, prices of commodities have gone through the newly renovated roof. She’ll have her kimona-clad shoulders dropping in the direction of the newly-tiled floor when she finds out that the one-peso bill she’s clutching in her hand cannot buy her a box of matches that used to cost two centavos. Her 1941 shopping list says: one ganta of rice (17 centavos), one kilogram of pork (15 centavos), a live chicken (20 centavos) and six eggs (six centavos).
