Surviving the Christmas month

By Herbert Vego

AS the month of December is about to unfold, we fantasize about the Christmas presents we hope to give and to receive.

But some of us have yet to fully pay debts incurred in Christmas 2023. To them, there is never enough income to make both ends meet.

Because of the fast fall of our peso against the US dollar – now ₱59 to a dollar – the prices of foods we normally serve at Christmas and New Year celebrations have skyrocketed. As I found out in a grocery store yesterday, my favorite ham now costs ₱620 per kilo. Its previous price was ₱590.

Even we who think of ourselves as “middle class” grimace over the unending rise in prices of food and other basic commodities.

The unwelcome price increases scare wage earners whose incomes lag behind.

More often than not, we respond by pinching pennies. To make both ends meet, we buy less of our basic needs – say, a half-kilo of meat instead of the previous one kilo at the risk of our family going undernourished. But it’s really a losing game because the value of our money has diminished.

Even the greedy merchants who impose higher prices for bigger profit eventually see the erosion of their own gains whenever they buy their own needs at higher prices, too. Sooner or later, whatever money they have saved in the bank, even if it earns interest, devaluates.

The phrase “A penny saved is a penny earned” no longer means what it says because it sheds its  value over time.

Therefore, why not make the most of it now?

Hasn’t the Great Book told us? “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Unfortunately, that “philosophy” could do more harm than good. A devalued peso has more value than no peso at all. Why not cost-cutting instead?

Alas, cost-cutting hardly compensates, especially if it means scrimping for three budget meals a day. While we can cut and slash expenses to the bone to conserve our bottom peso, the fact remains that we could get sick and unable to afford medical expenses anymore. Going into debt would then be unavoidable.

The only way to keep pace with inflation is to earn more, which is an elusive dream for the average Filipino wage earner; or have a “sideline” or small business in which to prosper.

Those who demand wage increase but don’t get it are doomed to sink poorer.

Let’s take a look at the minimum wage earner making ₱645 monthly. If this were his income in the 1980s, he would have lived like a prince. Today, he has to spend only for his family’s immediate needs and not for his personal wants.

When my neighbor Eli suffered business reversal, he literally hooked his children into moving from private to public school to save on tuition by offering them bigger daily baon.

Indeed, the better challenge is always to beat inflation by outracing monetary inflation. There are cases, however, when getting it from increased income could aggravate the workers’ problem. For when laborers ask for wage hike across the board, their employer would need to hike prices of their products – which further fuels inflation.

The better alternative would be to stimulate demand by keeping prices low and thus produce more products.  With more products selling like hotcakes, both the producer and the consumers benefit. This is the “secret” behind the success of small but export-oriented countries.

Working abroad for better pay is the option for Filipinos who no longer see the “future” in the local job market. As the song New York New York says, “If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.”

-oOo-

A UNIQUE MORE POWER/NVC PARTNERSHIP

MORE Electric and Power Corp. has partnered with NVC Foundation in sponsoring a feeding program for children with nutritional deficiency, among whom are 88 children from San Miguel, Iloilo.  Theirs are now success stories worth telling.

The participating kids have shown a marked increase in their weight compared to their peers.

Take the case of the girl Micah Ella. At the age of 44 months, she was diagnosed to be suffering from malnutrition. Today, at around five years old, she is normal in height and weight, and behaves as if she has always lived a comfortable life.

NVC Foundation manufactures cheap but nutritious “mingo meals” for children from 6 months to 5 years old. A typical 20-gram meal (worth ₱9) is made from locally sourced rice, mongo, and malunggay.

There are other variations. One that children enjoy is a combination of chocolate, squash and ube.

Each meal comes wrapped in powder form that turns into a porridge when mixed with hot water. It may also be eaten as a snack straight out of the pack.

The next target of the program is the town of Sta. Barbara. The MORE/NVC nutrition team will be there today, November 25, to bring hope to another group of children in need.

Kudos to MORE Power and NVC Foundation for sponsoring this program aimed at combating child malnutrition.