Inflation Weakens Support for Government of Philippine Strongman Duterte

Finance chief suspends scheduled fuel-tax increase, threatening big infrastructure plans

The highest inflation in almost a decade is eating away at support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s government and forcing sacrifices to his flagship economic agenda.

Consumer prices last month were up 6.7% from a year earlier, cutting into the livelihoods of this nation’s 100 million people—especially the poor, whose support the authoritarian populist needs in next year’s midterm elections.

On...