P10T family budget?

The National Economic and Development Authority’s (Neda’s) hypothetical P10,000 budgeting per month for a family of five is an insult to Filipinos including children.

The recently conducted research is a complete lie that even Neda’s own director general said that it is impossible! Where in the Philippines can you find a house rent for P1200? Where kind of food can you buy for only P8.50?

Meanwhile, Neda admitted that a family of five actually needs P42,000 a month to survive. This following criticisms of the earlier figure. Yet it denies that a worker needs P750 daily national minimum wage.

The timing when they released the questionable results of their research and subsequent admission of lies amidst public clamor against rising cost of basic commodities, especially school supplies as classes resume this month is an insult to the majority of Filipino families. They made themselves look senseless and have been further isolated from the common people.

The misleading information given by Neda are all made up to justify the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. They want to appease public clamor on the sky rocketing prices brought by the TRAIN law but the Filipino people are not buying their lies. Even children know that P25.56 a day for each member of the family is not enough for their meals, even for daily baons.

The continued implementation of TRAIN law will lead to more and more hungry and dying children due to malnutrition. It can be considered as enforced diet while almost 7 million Filipino children experience hunger and malnutrition. That’s the reality that Neda should be able to realize.

The Filipino people should petition to repeal the anti-children and anti-peole TRAIN law.--Eule Rico Bonganay, national secretary general, Salinlahi Government employees under the COURAGE government employees center reiterated that their take-home pay is not even enough to take them home. This was already the situation prior to the implementation of the TRAIN law.

Now the burden is greater due to the drastic inflation of 4.5 percent reflected in the increase in oil products, rice, utilities, other basic commodities and school expenses after classes have again started.

What the tax reform has done was to accelerate the reduction of our salaries and our inclusion in the roster of the impoverished.

Also, Neda lives in a fantasy-land to believe its lie that a family of five can decently survive on P10,000 a month.

I challenge any high government official to try to keep body and soul together on that amount-feeding, sheltering, clothing, schooling and providing the other requirements of five Filipinos for at least one month.

The current minimum wage in the public sector is P10,510 monthly under Executive Order 201 or the Salary Standardization Law 4. However, salaries of local government employees are even lower.

Take-home pay not enough