How much does it need for a family of five to “live on” a day?
Two answers from two very different sources reflect what critics have charged a basic disconnect between the national government’s projection and what the actual day-to-day experiences of the average Filipino.
In August 2024, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) sparked outrage when it said its food poverty threshold stood at P64 per person a day – or the equivalent of P320 per family a day.
Those numbers, according to some think tanks, underestimate the real costs of feeding the average Filipino family.
In fact, a minimum-wage earner working for a water delivery store in San Pedro City has had a far higher threshold, based on his own experience: P1,214 a day, or the equivalent of P242 per person.
That, he said, was the minimum amount he had found sufficient to fulfill the three-square meals prescribed by nutritionists.
“At pagkain pa lang iyan, ha – paano pa kaya yung gastos sa paaralan ng mga bata? Yung pang-araw-araw na transportation expenses? Tapos yung bayad pa sa tubig, sa kuryente, o di kaya paano pa kaya kapag nagkasakit yung anak mo?” that worker, who requested anonymity, told OpinYon Laguna.
Harsh truth
This 2025, Lagunenses have to face the harsh truth that, if anything, prices of basic commodities in the province are still on the upward trend.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Laguna certainly wasn't resorting to sugarcoating, instead putting up a bland portrayal of what every Lagunense has already experienced.
In its "Summary of Inflation Report" released last January 20, the PSA's provincial office stated that the province's inflation rate rose by 3.4 percent last December 2024, compared to 2.8 percent reported in November 2024.
By terms of commodity groups, inflation rates for food and non-alcoholic beverages remained unchanged month-on-month, although it remains high at 4.1 percent last December.
Education services posted the highest inflation rate at 4.3 percent, followed by health services (3.9 percent), personal care and miscellaneous goods and services (3.6 percent), restaurant and accommodation services (3.5 percent), and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.2 percent).
Food, rental prices drove inflation up
Add to this awful truth is the fact that food prices really drive up the inflation rate not only in Laguna province but also in the Calabarzon region, as the government’s own statisticians have admitted.
Recently, PSA IV-A Regional Director Charito Armonia said that prices for dining services like restaurants and cafés contributed 16.3 percent to the inflation rate in December, followed by rentals at 13.2 percent, tomato at 8.6 percent, Liquified Petroleum Gas or LPG at 7.7 percent, and rice at 6.2 percent.
Food inflation in Laguna province was posted at 4.2 percent last December 2024, based on data released by PSA Laguna.
Vegetables posted the highest food inflation rate at a whopping 17.8 percent, followed by meat and oil products (4.7 percent each) and milk and dairy products (2.8 percent).
On the plus side, however, corn prices dropped by about 10.1 percent last December, followed by fruits and nuts (10 percent), ready-made food products (3.7 percent), and even rice (3.2 percent).
State statisticians have, notably, placed the blame of the higher costs of goods and services in the Calabarzon region to the recent series of typhoons that have struck the province during the last four months of the year.
“Each region has its own ‘market basket’. If an area produces more, we can expect prices not to rise as much. However, if an area is affected by natural disasters and calamities, we can anticipate variations in inflation across different regions,” Armonia explained.
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