Ferdinand Tinao, a 44-year old office messenger, has been living on a hand-to-mouth existence together with his wife and three kids, the youngest only eight months old.
With his calloused hands clasped in front of him, Tinao shook his head in disbelief upon learning of the computation of the National Economic Development Authority which showed that a family of five could live on P10,000 a month.
‘‘Bakit nila nilabas yang figure na yan? Nakakainsulto. [Why did they release that figure? It is insulting,”] he said.
‘‘Dapat yung nagsabi nyan, i-apply niya sa buhay niya kung paano magutom dahil P10,000 lang ang pera mo. Makaka-survive ka, pero hindi makatao. Hindi disenteng pamumuhay [The one who released that data should experience firsthand what it is like to go hungry because you only have P10,000. You will survive, but it is inhumane. It is not decent living],” Tinao added.
According to Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon, you will not be considered poor if you earn P10,000 a month and support a family of five persons.
Based on Neda’s computation, the P10,000 monthly budget covers, among others, the following: P3,834 for food and non-alcoholic beverages (or P127 a day); P1,288 for house rent; P389 for health; P806 for transportation; P328 for education; P141 for recreation and culture; and P1,259 for restaurants and miscellaneous goods and services.
B
ut Tinao, who lives in Malabon City, rejected Neda’s data, especially the P1,288 allocation for house rent.
‘‘Mura na ang renta ko dahil medyo malayo ang Malabon. Pero P4,500 pa rin. Yang P1,200 sa squatters’ area na yan (My rent is a bit lower because Malabon is in the outskirts of the metro. But I still pay P4,500. That P1,200 is good only for a squatters’ area),” he said.
Neda’s figures drew immediate backlash from outraged Filipinos who insisted that the computation was out of touch with reality.
‘‘This is an affront to millions of poor Filipinos. We demand that Neda retract this out of touch statement. We demand that Usec. Edillon apologize in public for insulting all of us for taking the dignity of the poor Filipino family to the lowest level,” said Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.
Partido Manggagawa chairperson Rene Magtubo said Neda officials and their families should be the first to try surviving on P10,000 a month.
‘‘Given that budget, we will have a stunted labor force—physically and mentally—in the future,” Magtubo said.
Faced with mounting criticisms, Edillon clarified on Wednesday that the P10,000 monthly budget was only a “hypothetical figure” to show how a family of five can survive and allocate the money.
‘‘What we are saying is that if you only have a P10,000 budget, this is how you can apportion your money to certain commodity items. We are not saying this is what you need to have a decent life,” she said.
In fact, Neda itself released in 2016 data showing that a family of four must earn a gross monthly income of P120,000—a far cry from P10,000—to live a “simple and comfortable life” which the agency defined as having enough money for day-to-day needs; the capability to send children to college; owning a medium-sized home and car; and being able to take occasional domestic trips.
For Tinao, Neda’s clarification does not mean much. There are still bills to pay, and the P900 can of milk that must be bought weekly for his youngest child.
‘‘Yung utang ko kaliwa’t kanan, lista sa tindahan. Kung isa lang ang nagtratrabaho, gagapang ka talaga (I have debts left and right. I have a long list of debts with the local store. If only one parent is working, you will really crawl on your belly),” he said.