NEDA

NEDA's P64 Food Budget: Is it Realistic or Just Plain Ridiculous?

NEDA believes that P64 a day for food is just fine, but are they living on the same planet as us?

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is getting quite a stir with its recent proposal to revisit the poverty metrics used to classify Filipinos as poor. Their latest threshold suggests that a household of five can be considered ‘food poor’ if each member spends less than P64 a day on meals. Now, before you take that in, let's add a pinch of context—this translates to a measly P21.3 per meal. Unsurprisingly, this measure has sparked outrage among lawmakers, with many questioning NEDA's grasp of actual living conditions in the country.

Renato Reyes from the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan expressed that NEDA’s assessment shows a shocking disconnect from the realities faced by many Filipinos. Imagine trying to maintain a balanced diet with just P21.3! That's not even enough for a typical fast-food meal, much less a well-rounded dinner. The initiate from NEDA has come under fire, and it looks like they might need to step out of their economic bubble and experience a bit of everyday life in order to draft more realistic assessments.

Moreover, development organization IBON Foundation is calling on NEDA to adopt a more realistic threshold, emphasizing that the P64 categorization seriously underestimates the cost of living and food expenses in the Philippines. It's funny how economic theories might not always translate well when they hit the grocery aisles! According to their findings, the true cost of adequate nutrition is significantly higher than what is being proposed, leaving many to wonder if any actual research was done to support such a claim or if they simply pulled it out of thin air.

In the end, while NEDA's recommendations might have them patting themselves on the back over bean-counting, it doesn't accurately reflect the struggles of many Filipinos who are scraping by. Filipino families need supportive policies and economic realities that actually hit home rather than pie-in-the-sky figures that continue to misclassify their very real conditions. Speaking of food budgets, did you know that according to a study, low-income families often spend up to 40% of their total income just on food? That's almost half of their paycheck going to meals!