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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Saang planeta yan?' Castro slams NEDA for saying Pinoys with P64 daily meal budget aren't 'food poor' 

'Saang planeta yan?' Castro slams NEDA for saying Pinoys with P64 daily meal budget aren't 'food poor' 

Published Aug 14, 2024 07:18 am

At A Glance

  • ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro is up in arms over the National Economic and Development Authority's (NEDA) claim that having a one-day food budget of just P64 does not make a person "food poor". 

IMG-3c43b927a3d5a56a67ee3ba921359640-V-01.jpeg(Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro is up in arms over the National Economic and Development Authority's (NEDA) claim that having a one-day food budget of just P64 does not make a person "food poor". 

"Saang planeta kaya nabubuhay ang mga taga-NEDA para sabihin ito? Nasubukan na ba nilang mabuhay na P64 lang para sa pagkain sa buong araw ang gagastusin tapos sasabihin na di ka na mahirap kapag ganoon?" Castro said in a statement on Wednesday, Aug. 14. 

(On which planet are the NEDA people living on for them to say such thing? Have they tried living on just P64 for food for an entire day, and the declare that they are no longer poor?) 

The irked House assistant minority leader continued: "Nakakagalit at nakakainsulto ang ganitong mga pahayag ng Marcos admin. Para lang masabing bumaba na ang bilang ng mga food poor, mas mahalaga pa sa kanila ang statistics kaysa maibsan ang tunay na kalagayan ng mamamayan." 

(This kind of pronouncement from the Marcos administration is infuriating and insulting. They just want to make it appear that the number of food poor Filipinos has gone down, which means they value statistics more than truly improving the state of the people.) 

"Ang kailangan ng mga manggagawa ay substansyal na dagdag sahod hindi minagic na computation," the Makabayan solon said. 

(What the workers need is a substantial pay hike, not computations that were produced by magic.) 

For one thing, Castro emphasized that NEDA's computation was "impractical", since the P64 daily food budget translates to P21.333 per meal (breakfast, lunch, dinnerl) per person. 

"Ano na lang ba nabibili sa P20? Turon o banana que o kaya noodles. Hindi tatagal sa katawan ng tao yun. Hindi aabot sa normal calories na kailangan per day," she added. 

(What commodity can you still buy with P20? Dessert spring roll, banana skewers or maybe noodles. That won't last long inside a person's body. That won't be enough for the normal calories needed per day.) 

Casto says he remarks underscore the urgency to address the genuine struggles faced by the Filipinos.
 

Related Tags

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) FRANCE CASTRO food poor
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