Lawmakers questioned the Department of Trade and Industry’s claim that a family can prepare a simple Noche Buena with a P500 budget despite the rising cost of food.
Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon rejected the DTI’s position and said the agency’s estimate does not reflect the actual holiday table of most Filipino families. He said a typical Noche Buena often includes spaghetti, cheese, and sometimes ham if families have saved enough for Christmas.
Ridon argued that current prices make it difficult to buy even spaghetti and cheese for P500, especially when the meal is meant for multiple family members. He added that this is not the first time the DTI has insisted on the P500 estimate, noting that the only difference now is that Trade Secretary Cristina Roque made the assertion herself.
Ridon said no one is demanding that families limit their Noche Buena budget to P500. What matters, he said, is the government ensuring that holiday essentials remain affordable.
He also asked where a Filipino family could possibly buy a Noche Buena for P500, questioning “what planet” such a budget would work on.
Akbayan Party-list Representative Perci Cendaña also criticized the estimate, saying P500 would only make sense if someone could “time travel” to earlier decades. He said the DTI’s claim seems out of touch and even insulting, suggesting it must refer to an “imaginary family” surviving on one meal a day during the holidays.
Cendaña added that government certification of a P200 wage hike would be more helpful so workers can celebrate Christmas with dignity.
