By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
There are moments when government officials reveal exactly how out of touch they are — and this past week, Trade Secretary Cristina Roque gave the Filipino public a shining example as an advanced Christmas gift. Her now-infamous remark that ₱500 is enough for a Noche Buena meal didn’t just miss the mark, but insulted a nation that already knows too well how far ₱500 doesn’t go.
Most Filipinos didn’t know whether to take her seriously or laugh in jest. So they did both. TikTok, Facebook — name any platform from Batanes to Jolo — exploded with a flood of content mocking the idea. Some netizens offered the most bizarre, nutrition-deprived, gutter-tier combinations imaginable, proving that yes, you can technically buy food worth ₱500… if your idea of Noche Buena includes instant pancit canton and Sky Flakes.
On the other side were the few kitchen-savvy Filipinos who tried to assemble a dignified meal for 2–4 people. They succeeded, barely — but with one huge caveat: their ₱500 computation silently assumed the family already had oil, salt, sugar, pepper, and gas or electricity for cooking. In short, the public had to make Roque’s numbers work by excluding half the realities of actual living.
And here’s the real kicker: after receiving a tidal wave of criticism, she could have stopped. She could have read the room, stepped back, and admitted that the remark didn’t land well in the Christmassy spirit that had just set in.
But hey, Secretary Roque just had to double down at a time the nation is angered by left-and-right corruption in government infrastructure projects that put the life of the presidency under a sharpened ax.
So, yeah… she faces the press again, “clarifying” that ₱500 — no more, no less — can truly satisfy the noche buena cravings of papa, mama, and two children. As if repetition could turn fantasy into fact.
This is where the insult sharpens. Because what Filipinos heard was not guidance — it was condescension. It was the familiar tune of officials who speak about the poor without ever living a day in their reality.
So here is a simple, fair challenge, Madam Secretary: On Christmas Eve, show us your family’s ₱500 Noche Buena table. Lay it out proudly. Feed your family of four with it. Then ask yourself, sincerely and without cameras, whether you would still have the temerity to recommend the same to millions of Filipino households.
Until then, spare us the Yuletide suggestions on thrifty feasting.
Filipinos already stretch every peso until it screams. What they don’t need is a government asking them to celebrate Christmas on a budget it wouldn’t dare endure itself.