“You are outrageously and shamelessly out of touch from reality,” ani Bayan Muna Rep. Zarate. “Sila kaya ang mabuhay na P10,000 lang ang budget para sa kanilang pamilya. Nasubukan na ba nila ito? Bumaba muna kayo sa inyong kinatuntungang matayog na pedestal at subukan munang pagkasyahin ang P10,000 ng kahit anim na buwan tapos saka kayo magsalita.”
Sinabi naman ni Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas na sa kuwenta ng NEDA na gumastos ang isang tao ng P25.56 kada araw sa pagkain, ay talo pa ang nagda-diet.
“By saying that one can live on P25.56 per day, NEDA is pushing Filipinos to go on a forced diet,” ani Brosas. “They need to sober up and have a grasp of reality: Filipino families skip meals and skimp on other necessities just to survive amid nonstop price hikes.”
Ayon kay NEDA Usec. Rosemarie Edillon ang living standard ng isang pamilyang Filipino na may limang miyembro ay P10,000 kung saan P3,834 ang mapupunta sa pagkain.
“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 and we are demanding that Usec. Edillon to apologize in public for insulting all of us with such a very low government standard of living and for taking the dignity of poor Filipino family to the lowest level,” ani Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of ALU-TUCP.