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NEDA’s P127 daily food budget for a family of 5 an insult —labor group
A labor group decried on Wednesday a statement by an official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that the living standard for a Filipino family of five is P10,000 a month.
Setting the living standard of a Filipino family to the lowest level requires both a retraction and a public apology, according to the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).
NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said on Tuesday that the living standard of a Filipino family of five is only P10,000 a month. Out of which only P3,834 are needed food or P127 a day.
She was speaking to reporters during a briefing about the May 2018 inflation rate.
“We condemn this argument as inaccurate and a grave mistake. This is an affront to millions of poor Filipinos,” said Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of ALU-TUCP.
Edillon issued a clarification and said that her statement was taken out of context.
Hypothetical
The number was simply a “hypothetical figure” to show how a family of five can apportion the money to certain commodities, she said in a separate interview on “Dobol B sa News TV” on Wednesday.
For a marginalized family, P10,000 means a lot, said Ruben Carlo Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines.
“However, this should be clarified further because P10,000 for a family in the city is different from a family in the rural areas. It may be ‘decent’ for a non-urban family but it may be a ‘challenge’ for a family in the city,” Asuncion told GMA News Online.
Likewise, Land Bank of the Philippines market economist Guian Dumalagan said the amount of money needed to live decently varies—depending on location as cost of living in Metro Manila is different from that in the provinces.
“We demand that NEDA retract this out of touch statement and we are demanding that Undersecretary Edillon apologize in public for insulting all of us with such a very low government standard of living and for taking the dignity of poor Filipino family to the lowest level,” Tanjusay said in a statement.
The P127 a day for food expenses for a family of five is a very low government standard, Tanjusay said.
“This amount does not reflect the reality of the majority of Filipinos who are poor. Why don’t the NEDA officials, including Ms. Edillon, try to live with P127 a day, tingnan natin kung mabubuhay sila with this amount.”
The government must set the standard at a modest and acceptable level after reflecting the realities on the ground, Tanjusay noted.
Walk the talk
Partido Manggagawa chair Rene Magtubo said government officials should walk the talk.
“Let NEDA officials and their families experience first-hand what they are talking about,” Magtubo said in another statement.
The labor leader said a P10,000 monthly budget would give a family a hard time to live decently, and may even lead to low nutrition for children and less money for education.
“Given that family budget, we will have a stunted labor force—physically and mentally— in the future,” Magtubo noted.
Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa secretary general Josua Mata also challenged NEDA Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia to subject his family to a strict budget of P10,000 if they believe in their “preposterous” findings.
“Government officials, particularly , should immerse themselves in communities before they announce standards and policies. They should be immersed in public wet markets. They should often visit the talipapas and sari-sari stores and not just depend on table studies if they want to know the real living conditions being experienced by Filipino families,” he said.
The living standard for a Filipino family of five should be P1,200 a day and P400-P600 a day of the amount should go to food expenses alone, the group said. —With a report by Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News
