Come Christmas time, Filipino families would always look for ways to ornament their dinner tables with an array of food. This ideal midnight feast, however, comes in price tags—often increased due to the market demand every December.
The Philippine government attempts to encourage adjustments, creative compromise, and budget maximalization to achieve a semblance of the ideal Noche Buena. Annually, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) releases a price guide of products to inform and help Filipinos on what to purchase within their budget, as well as present an estimated amount of how much a typical Noche Buena would cost.
Under this guise of affordability, Filipinos are made to believe that their Christmas Eve feast for 2025 can be achieved with just a couple hundred pesos. When the trade department claimed that a ₱500 budget is already feasible, the public were not so ready to accept it as Gospel truth.
In an attempt to reassure families that one yellow-colored bill is enough for a family of four, the out-of-touch statement of DTI instead ridiculed the lived experiences of ordinary Filipinos when it comes to market costs. Compared to high-ranking officials who live with full pantries and supplies, the common Filipino lives with wages that could not compete with rising prices.
₱500, in today’s economy, can barely purchase a full list of grocery items needed for the day-to-day. To claim that this amount is enough to cover a feast during one of the biggest Filipino celebrations is not only false and delusional, but it undermines the cultural significance of Christmas.
The staple hamonada, spaghetti, quezo de bola, lumpia, and fruit salad may not necessarily be a need in terms of survival but they serve a cultural purpose. These foods are not simply consumable items, but are concrete manifestations of long-standing Christmas traditions.
Moreover, while item-costs in the market continue to skyrocket, the value of ₱500 decreases every year. The 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that the general price level of basic goods and services has risen compared to previous years. In the National Capital Region alone, the purchasing power of peso this year was about ₱0.80 for every peso in 2018, thus, what cost ₱100 in 2018 would now cost about ₱124.30, and that each peso now buys less than before.
So to claim that Filipinos can adjust and compromise this valued practice only entails that the common-folk should simply celebrate within the confines of ₱500. As the Christmas day approaches, the Weekly Sillimanian believes in giving value to tradition—value that is reasonable and not bargained, and does not delude our fellow Filipinos to compromise their Noche Buena.
So while government officials continue to promote a budgeted Noche Buena, we are faced with a question: should we really settle for a cheap Christmas?
