“HANGGANG SAAN AABOT ang Php20 mo?” a popular catchphrase of a particular ice cream brand in the Philippines popularized during the 2010’s. But in recent years, given the steady increase of prices in different aspects of the economy due to inflation, we now ask ourselves, “May maaabot pa ba ang Php20 mo?”
Php15 to Php20. That is the usual price one would face when buying a cup of cooked rice in a typical karenderya. On the other hand, a kilo of regular milled rice or bigas usually sits at about Php55 to Php60. From the price of rice alone, the Php64 daily food budget suggested by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for three meals per day is already slashed by a significant amount.
Can the average worker actually survive on a Php64 budget for three meals daily? To contextualize the experience on ground, The Bedan asked a number of non-teaching personnel from San Beda University (SBU) on their thoughts about the suggested NEDA budget, along with their personal experiences in setting aside funds for their day-to-day meals.
Defining the food-poverty threshold
According to the Philippine National Statistics Authority (PSA), the Food Threshold, also referred to as the subsistence threshold or food poverty line, pertains to the minimum income “required for a family or individual to meet the basic food needs,” which satisfies the nutritional requirements for “economically necessary and socially desirable physical activities.”
On the other hand, Sec. 3 of the RA 8425 or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act defined “Poor” as individuals and families whose income “fall below the poverty threshold” as defined by the NEDA and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing and other essential amenities of life.
RA 8425 was enacted with the goal of the state to adopt an area-based, sectoral and focused intervention to poverty alleviation, wherein every poor Filipino family shall be “empowered to meet its minimum basic needs of health, food, and nutrition,” among other things.
Contextualizing the Bedan experience
After Dr. Arsenio M. Balisican, secretary of NEDA, delivered the controversial number of Php64 in a senate briefing on the proposed 2025 national expenditure program last August 13, the suggested budget received heavy backlash from the public. Criticism stemmed from its apparent detachment to the actual costs allotted by Filipinos to acquire their food needs.
When asked about whether the amount would suffice for three meals daily, Ms. Leila Talacsan, a member of the Bedan Maintenance Staff (BMS) objected, arguing the “necessity for a person to have proper nutrition.”
“Kung susundin natin ‘yun, ano pong mabibili sa loob ng Php64 in three meals po in one day? Diba wala po talaga. Kasi, unang una po kape pa nga lang po magkano na po? Eh ang tinapay po, magkano na rin po? Hindi naman po magkakasya satin yung limang piso o sampung pisong tinapay dahil bihira na po makabili tayo ng ganun halaga,” Ms. Talacsan shared.
On the other hand, Ms. Carolyn Ednalaga, the corporate manager of FoodBaskets Corporation who works at the Dom Felipe Cafe, shared how, while the Php64 threshold would “seemingly sustain ordinary Filipinos—”in the likes of the elderly and the children, “pero ‘yung nasa adult lang na nagtatrabaho, mga workers, lalo mga construction workers kulang na kulang ‘yung Php64.”
Emphasizing on the purpose of the food and poverty thresholds in an article published by PhilStar global, Dr. Balisacan clarifies that “it is not meant to set the budget for what is considered a decent standard of living, but are merely tools to measure the effectiveness of government policies in addressing poverty.”
Despite this, there is still a necessity for said tools to accurately reflect and genuinely consider the costs of food needs for the everyday worker. This is given that the data collected from these tools have a direct correlation to public welfare—f irstly, with respect to the development and implementation of policies and programs in providing solutions to poverty, and secondly, in that the thresholds are equipped for minimum-wage setting.
A low poverty threshold could be an influencing factor behind low wages, as well as contribute to the neglect in providing public education, health, and other forms of assistance. T he “outdated” figure of Php64, fails to capture just that.
In the experience of Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Mr. Roveric Tatad of AGF Security Agency, serving as OIC of the guards stationed in SBU, the benchmark appears insufficient to sustain his 12-hour shift, saying “Actually kulang ‘yun eh, kasi three times tayo kumakain. Depende kung matipid ka naman at nagbabaon ka, okay naman ‘yung Php60. Pero kulang pa rin eh, kasi nag memeryenda tayo ganun, sa trabaho namin during security 12 hours and duty namin.”
Genuine data, genuine solutions
It’s about high time that amendments be made on the poverty threshold set by NEDA, if not a total revision of the poverty estimation methodology provided by NSCB Resolution no. 9 series of 2011. As argued by think tank IBON Foundation, the issue with the current poverty estimation is two-fold. First is the unrealistic food poverty threshold, and second is its failure to genuinely consider basic non-food needs and its appropriate costs.
An unrealistic benchmark contributes to the masking of root causes behind poverty. But ultimately, the setting of thresholds is at its core political. Even if laying out a higher threshold may result in a boom in poverty incidences, it will serve as a stronger foundation for the government to lay out genuine solutions to address poverty.
A lower poverty threshold, as adopted by the current Marcos administration, results in millions of Filipinos struggling to meet basic standards of living, hidden behind unrealistic statistics.
Lastly, what is apparent is a need for the government to be more grounded on the experience of the day-to-day worker. And as aptly put by Ms. Talacsan, “Siguro kailangan ‘yung taga NEDA minsan try nilang lumabas, try nilang alamin ‘yung presyo nung mga bilihin sa labas…kasi every year, every month nga lang eh tumataas yun bilihin eh. Siguro kailangan nilang minsan mag-survey. Mag…research [sila], para alam nila kung ano talaga ‘yung tamang paggastos, kung magkano ‘yung bilihin, kung ano pa kinakailangan ng isang pamilya.”