According to government officials, staples such as scrambled eggs, boiled monggo, and boiled rice are among the food items that a Filipino family of five can subsist on a monthly budget of over P10,000.
On December 11, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Secretary Rosalinda Bautista said that the minimum amount that allows a family basic food and non-food items is at P10,727, Inquirer.net reported.
The PSA presented a sample menu that can feed a family of five with a monthly food budget of P7,528 which includes:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, steamed rice, and coffee with milk
Lunch: Boiled monggo with malunggay and dried dilis, steamed rice, and a banana
Dinner: Fried tulingan, boiled kangkong, and steamed rice
Snacks: Pandesal
Secretary Bautista added that bread or root crops can suffice as snacks.
The PSA said that the remaining budget will go to non-food items like clothing, fuel, electricity, water, rent, house repairs, medical care, education, transportation, and personal care.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said, “That is known as basic needs, so no-frills. No fancy items there… I’m sure many families are subsisting with that kind of budget.”
Recently, the PSA said on December 6 that more Filipinos have been lifted out of poverty in 2018 as they reported a decline in the number of poor families. The PSA said that poverty incidence declined to 16.6 percent from 23.3 percent in 2015, CNN Philippines reported.
Follow Monina on Instagram.
