CONSUMERS’ groups, labor and militant organizations are outraged by the claim of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that P10,000 is enough for a family of five to survive. They are further incensed by NEDA undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon’s clarification that she only meant to explain how P10,000 could best be allocated, not that it was sufficient for a decent living.
Filipinos certainly have the right to be indignant. The clarification only adds insult to injury. Workers don’t need Edillon and NEDA’s instructions on budgeting. Given the chronic poverty in the country, Filipinos are already well-versed on the grim necessities of subsistence living.
NEDA’s ridiculous claims would be funny if they weren’t so dangerous as an indicator of government logic and the direction of public policy. NEDA’s actual function is to set and recommend economic policies. It is alarming that its economic managers are essentially attempting to justify low wages, joblessness, high taxes and other policies detrimental to workers and the poor. Are they telling workers and the poor that hunger and poverty are an acceptable state of affairs?
NEDA’s “proposed budget” for poor Filipino families underscores the arrogance and blindness of its economic managers if not the Duterte administration. Ordinary Filipinos who know the daily cost of food, commuting, rent, education, electricity, and water, among others, can easily see that NEDA is wrong.
This claim shows that the country’s economic managers are out of touch with the reality of the workers and poor. Instead of setting the standards for decent living in the country, they appear to have chosen to fall in line with the government’s insensitivity towards workers and the poor.
The inflation rate under Duterte is at record levels, yet this government refuses to take action to ease the burden of rising costs. Moreover, the burdensome TRAIN law has further raised the prices of basic goods.
The ever-growing gap between the minimum wage and the actual living wage should be addressed. Government officials particularly the NEDA 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, not just depend on table studies, if they want to know the real living conditions being experienced by Filipino families.
