Many of us living from paycheck to paycheck feel the price of basic goods climbing steadily. While holiday expenses often pile on emotional and financial stress, the P500 budget estimates released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for Noche Buena struck a raw nerve. Cashing in on the obvious knee-jerk reaction of harried people trying to make both ends meet, hardcore politicians fanned public sentiment with dis-information.
Sadly for DTI Secretary Cristina Roque, she became the “feast,” skewered by anti-administration politicians. Roque was condemned for the government’s failure to uplift the lives of the Filipinos who are supposedly being “limited” to a measly P500 budget for their family dinner get-together on Christmas Eve.
The DTI secretary’s words appeared to shrink the aspirations of millions. It was being made to appear to imply P500 is all the poor Filipino families could afford or should be satisfied with amid the harsh realities of inflation and economic hardship.
On the surface, claiming that P500 can cover Christmas Eve dinner seems insensitive to the prevailing outrage over reported mis-spending of government budget. In particular, this added to the public furor over reported “ghost” and other anomalous flood control projects found in congressional insertions in the annual budgets of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
But the rush to condemn the P500 Noche Buena price estimates of the DTI missed its crucial context. The P500 figure was not in any way an imposition. But such is how bitter critics of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) would like the public to believe.
The DTI secretary never said Filipino families should limit themselves to such a budget. It was an offshoot of a media query during the press conference where she was thrown the banana peels on price estimates of the DTI for Christmas Eve dinner. She was asked directly if that amount could suffice for a family of five to feast on Noche Buena. And she answered truthfully, based on DTI price monitoring data she had on hand.
A single parent, Secretary Roque fully understands how to manage a family budget. The 57-year-old mother of four grown-up children, the youngest of whom is still in college, the personal background of the DTI chief reveals a narrative far from privileged elitism. On the contrary, she’s very well aware most Filipinos have extended families with multiple relatives chipping in to create a more celebratory menu. She knows this intimately as a product of a simple family herself.
Her success built on a modest capital of P6,000 in the 1990s shows a woman who understands poverty firsthand. She rose through grit and determination, certainly not inheritance or privilege. Her family was able to set up clothing chain Kamiseta with just a small capital and make a profit after sound investments.
She was previously DTI undersecretary for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) development. PBBM subsequently promoted her as “acting” secretary in August last year following the resignation of her erstwhile boss, ex-DTI secretary Alfredo Pascual. During her confirmation hearing before the 25-man Commission on Appointments, Roque narrated that her experience as an entrepreneur instilled in her a profound understanding of the challenges faced by the country’s MSMEs and the vital role that government support plays in fostering the growth of these businesses.
Since stepping into government service, she has taken a quietly diligent approach, monitoring markets closely and negotiating hard to keep price hikes at bay, earning her the nickname “No-Price Increase Cris.” Her track record shows a commitment to the President’s directive to ensure Filipino families live more comfortably, a far cry from insensitivity.
Critics might rightly argue that the government must do more to ease the burden of struggling families during the holidays and beyond. But dismantling a public servant’s reputation over a single answer, without acknowledging her actions or background, distracts from the real conversations about poverty, economic policies and sustainable solutions.
This brouhaha elicited the best testimonial from Filipino chefs who showed the P500 Noche Buena challenge can indeed be done. One can only judge something’s quality or value by actually trying, using or experiencing it, not just by hearing about it or theorizing but by practical results over promises or appearances.
As in the saying goes: the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
In one of the social media posts, one of the Pinoy chefs showed a self-made video to demonstrate it, cooking-wise. He started with listing the ingredients of his planned Noche Buena menu with a P500 budget to match the DTI priced items. Then, he went to SM Hypermartket and bought the following with P500: a small pack of sliced ham; 1/2 kilo pack of spaghetti; a few grams of garlic and onions; 1/2 kilo of ground pork; one pechay wombok; one small box of whipped cream and a can of fruit cocktail.
First, the chef lightly fried the leaves of the pechay wombok and set it aside to cool. Then, he sauted the garlic and onions using 1/4 kilo of ground pork. Once cooked, he rolled the ground pork in the fried wombok leaves like lumpiang shanghai. That’s one dish.
Then he got a few pieces of sliced ham and chopped it, while frying the rest of the ham and set it aside. Next, he cooked the other half of the ground pork mixed with the chopped sliced ham and sauted it all with the rest of the onions and garlic. Once cooked, he added cooked spaghetti and mixed them all together with whipped cream. That’s the second dish.
Taking out the can of fruit cocktail, he separated some of the juice and picked a few pieces of pineapple and set them aside. Refrigerate the fruit cocktail as dessert. That’s the third dish.
Then the remaining slices of ham are placed on a platter, with the few pineapple pieces added as toppings and the fruit cocktail juice poured over the ham. That’s fourth dish.
The truth then is that it is enough, as shown to us by actual cooking tests.