Economic managers dared: Try living on P10,000 a month

MANILA, Philippines — Militant lawmakers yesterday challenged the economic managers of President Duterte to try living on a P10,000 monthly budget if only to find out for themselves how small this amount is for a family of five. 

“(You) are outrageously and shamelessly out of touch with reality,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate addressed Secretaries Benjamin Diokno (Budget and Management), Carlos Dominguez III (Finance) and Ernesto Pernia (Economic and Development). 

According to him, the problem with the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is that they have always been used to making “plans and projections” but have not been grounded, unlike most Filipinos. 

“They never suffered the pain and hardship of living under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law that they have been forcing on us and if we make our sentiments known to the government, they call us crybabies,” Zarate said. 

He accused the economic managers of “brazenly downplaying the harsh effects of the TRAIN law on the prices of goods and services” by saying P10,000 monthly for a family of five could suffice and that they could live decently. 

“With inflation for May at an all time high of 4.6 percent, these economic managers should be fired for adding a hefty burden on millions of Filipinos,” Zarate said, quoting reports that a sample household budget of P3,834 monthly is enough to feed a family of five for 30 days. 

Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro of party-list ACT Teachers agreed with Zarate. 

“The ‘sample household budget’ of the economic managers of the Duterte administration is another (public relations) spin meant to deodorize TRAIN and TRAIN-induced inflation and to put down the resounding calls for salary and wage hikes,” Tinio said. 

Castro challenged President Duterte’s economic managers to try and live within their P10,000 “sample budget” and still tell those families that they are not poor and are already living above the poverty threshold. 

“These economists seem to lack actual data from the ground to say that a P1,288 rent for a house that would fit a family of five exists and a P2,674 budget for transportation, health and education is possible,” she said. 

Senators quickly criticized NEDA for being out of touch with reality.

“Actually, we can (live on P10,000 monthly), only if my family will eat only once a day, won’t brush our teeth nor take a bath, walk everyday to and from our place of work but avoid perspiring so we won’t wash our clothes,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who was once NEDA director general, said the assumptions made by his former office were very hard to believe.

“I challenge them to reduce their salary for three months and try to survive with P10,000 a month for three months. I bet they will change their calculations,” Recto said.

Sen. Francis Escudero said there was no way any family of five could live with a mere P10,000 a month.

“Quite frankly, I do not know which planet they are talking about because it’s certainly not Metro Manila or the Philippines,” Escudero said.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV urged the government to stop coming out with excuses and misleading statements to defend the TRAIN law.

Nationwide protest

As this developed, militant workers are gearing for a nationwide work stoppage to press the Duterte administration to provide them immediate relief from the spiraling cost of basic commodities. 

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) yesterday announced that their members and supporters nationwide are preparing for a nationwide strike in time for Duterte’s State of the Nation Address next month.

BMP-National Capital Region chairman Gie Relova said workers are forced to go on strike to compel the government to address the uncontrolled inflation.

Aside from the repeal of TRAIN, BMP said, workers are seeking an immediate “price control” policy on all basic commodities, imposition of P750 national minimum wage and the abolition of all forms of contractual employment.

The Department of Labor and Employment #(DOLE) yesterday defended NEDA’s estimate.

Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras said NEDA  must have undertaken a serious study and analysis before coming out with the figure. 

For its part, labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) condemned the “sample household budget.”

“We condemn this argument as inaccurate and a grave mistake. This is an affront to millions of poor Filipinos. We demand that the NEDA retract this out of touch statement,” said Alan Tanjusay, ALU-TUCP spokesman.

Tanjusay added that “government officials, particularly (those in) NEDA, should immerse themselves in communities before they announce standards and policies.”

“We are demanding that (NEDA Undersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie Edillon) apologize in public for insulting all of us with such a very low government standard of living and for taking the dignity of the poor Filipino family to the lowest level,”  he said.

Other workers yesterday dismissed NEDA’s claim as “fake news.”

Federation of Free Workers (FFW) vice president Julius Cainglet said NEDA is creating an illusion that Filipinos can resist inflation, which has already reached a peak.

“Talk about fake news. They even went lower than P10,000 and said P3,834 is enough (for a month),” he added.

On social media, Filipino netizens have urged officials to take on the so-called #NEDA10KChallenge to prove their claim.

Kilusang Mayo Uno also challenged netizens to post their monthly expenses to disprove the “fake computation” of NEDA.

Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns slammed NEDA, noting that the recent implementation of the TRAIN law has resulted in further increase in prices of commodities.

In an interview with radio dzBB yesterday, Edillon clarified that the P10,000 monthly budget is only a “hypothetical figure” to demonstrate how a family apportions money for commodities.

The NEDA official said they are still conducting a study on how much is needed for a family to be able to live a decent life. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Artemio Dumlao, Janvic Mateo, Marvin Sy