AVANT GARDENER
Folks were up in arms last week over the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) statement that Filipinos who spend ₱64 per day on three meals are not “food poor.”
The amount was based on the 2023 food threshold computed for a family of five. This was an increase from ₱55 in 2021. It is expected to increase to ₱67 next year.
People from all economic classes were outraged, with many, from private citizens to influencers to activist groups, daring government officials to live on the said amount.
Let me use one example: Chef Gelo Guison posted an Instagram Reel that showed him buying ingredients in a wet market using the ₱64 per person budget for a family of five, for a total of ₱320. But before that, he explained that the amount is based on the reference menu prepared by the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST FNRI) but the costing comes from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
What did ₱320 get him? A breakfast of scrambled egg, coffee, creamer, and boiled rice; a morning snack of one pan de sal each; a lunch of boiled monggo with dilis, boiled rice, and a banana each; and a dinner of tulingan, kangkong, and boiled rice.
In the video, he constantly asks for the cheapest variants. This means extra small eggs and 1¾ kilo of the cheapest kind of rice (According to an internet converter, one kilo is equal to 4¼ cups). Staying within the budget meant that each family member only got one pan de sal each, with no money leftover for palaman (sandwich filling). I’m not sure if I heard correctly, but it sounded like he could only afford two pieces of tulingan and two bunches of kangkong.
The influencer noted that the list did not include “sugar, salt, cooking oil, malunggay [for the munggo], transpo, [and] LPG.” The budget also didn’t include other Pinoy kitchen essentials like garlic, onion, and patis.
Even then, the total amount spent for this menu went over budget by ₱25. Even if one were to forego the pan de sal, it would still be over by 15.
Guison noted that the computation was based on one menu and wondered if alternatives were offered because not everyone can stand eating the same meals every day.
News articles reported that DTI Undersecretary Amanda Nograles did say during the proposed 2025 budget deliberations that the amount was based on the monitoring of suggested retail prices of goods such as sardines, which costs ₱15 to ₱20; instant noodles, which can cost ₱7.75; and 3-in-1 coffee, which can cost less that ₱5 a sachet; a list that House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro commented was unhealthy.
While the above menu is more nutritious than the suggested sardine-instant noodle-3-in-1 combo, I’m not sure if it would be filling. And what if some of the family members are children? If I’m not mistaken, milk powder costs more than instant coffee.
Expecting Filipinos to live on such a small amount is not doing anyone a service. It lessens the choices of affected citizens to the bare minimum and trivializes their suffering under the guise of statistics. It also trivializes the difficulty that local producers face. Rising costs of gasoline and fertilizer, among other expenses, means it costs more to produce crops, livestock and poultry, and fish. As it is, many farmers and fishers already belong to the poorest sectors in the country.
I implore the offices involved to rethink this amount. Filipinos deserve to eat a variety of nutritious, delicious, culturally appropriate meals each day. We must endeavor to ensure that there is a balance between cheap food and adequate income for farmers and fishers. Let us look at our fellow Pinoys as individuals and not as statistics. Covering up a problem with a lot of math does not make it go away.
If I have to appeal to capitalism to get my point across, so be it: happy, well-fed citizens make better workers. Better workers make for improved industries, and improved industries make for a wealthier country. That said, we shouldn’t be looking at the amount of a person’s contribution to determine their worth. That they are alive should be enough, but we know that the world doesn’t work that way.
Guison ended his video with “Ready ba ang ating politiko at public servant na i-take ang ₱64 challenge? (Are our politicians and public servants ready to take the ₱64 challenge?)” I wonder the same thing.