The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has clarified that the widely criticized P64 daily food budget is merely a threshold and is not intended to prescribe meal plans.
Prior to this, some Filipinos online took matters into their own hands, demanding clarification from the agency—because, for them, the numbers just didn’t add up.
Content creator @sanfernandoeli even visited a government agency’s office and asked a nearby food vendor whether it was possible to have a meal for P21, which turned out to be insufficient.
“‘Di niyo alam ang pinagsasabi niyo. ‘Di lapat sa reyalidad ng manggagawa at ordinaryong Pilipino,” said Eli, claiming that the threshold was decidedly made low to bring down poverty rate.
“Kasya naman, kanin at sabaw,” one Pinoy user wrote in the comments section.
“50 pesos meal nga alanganin pa,” another TikTok user said.
@sanfernandoeli Hindi ka na MAHIRAP pag MERON KANG ₱21 per MEAL! 😂😠 #fyp #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #minimumwage #poverty #DOF #NEDA ♬ original sound – eli
The threshold is used as the government’s basis for determining food poverty among Filipino households which in turn determines eligibility for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan explained that the computation was from the recommended food items from the Department of Health and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.
The agency explained that this is one part of a set of tools used to assess the country’s development.
They acknowledged, however, that the numbers are outdated and do not count quickening rice inflation alone.
In a video, TikTok creator Laurence Evangelista called out NEDA as well.
“Anong mabibili kong pagkain sa P21, sis?” she asked.
She showed that canned goods could range around P30 each.
“San kayo nakatira, baka mura ang pagkain diyan, makikikain kami,” she quipped.
@atekwahhh Mayaman na ba ako?? #fypシ #SuperstarMCN ♬ original sound – Laurence Evangelista
“NEDA WAKE UP! 😂😂😂,” a social media user replied.
“Palitan lahat nang nasa NEDA with people na ka level natin para alam ang current affairs,” a Pinoy online commented.
Peasant groups joined in calling out the “unrealistic” threshold, and dared state economic managers to take on a P21 meal challenge.
“That is not even enough for a [cup of] rice and a viand in an eatery,” Danilo Ramos of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said.
Gen Zs online chimed in on the discourse as well.
A TikTok video that garnered 439,000 likes and 2.8 million views, user @klc4.0 wrote “The same government who spent P20 million for the SONA and it’s one dinner…Is the same government telling Filipinos now we only need P64 a day for 3 meals.”
@klc4.0♬ duvet by bôa – kingnintendo
“Dapat 64/pax lang budget sa next sona,” a TikTok user commented.
“We have weak leaders unfortunately,” another Pinoy wrote.
The Philippine Statistics Authority agreed that the food threshold is “insufficient,” and said that they will crunch the numbers for the calculation of poverty and food thresholds next year.
