FACT CHECK: Marcos quote on P21 food threshold is fake

Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asserted that P21 per meal is already sufficient for one family, citing research.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Multiple Facebook users posted an alleged quote card from PTV News containing Marcos’ supposed statement.

The quote read: “Base sa aming research. Sapat na ang 21 pesos kada meal ng isang pamilya.” 

(Based on our research, P21 per meal is sufficient for a family.)

One Facebook user wrote in her caption, “Ganyan kaliit ang tingin sa mga mamamayan. Pwede na 21 pesos para sa isang pamilya. Wala halong lungkot, pag-aalala. Sapat na. The complacency and indifference of this government…”

(This shows how little they think of the people. They think P21 is enough for an entire family. Not a shred of sadness or concern — ‘it’s enough.’ The complacency and indifference of this government.)

Another Facebook user said in their caption, “Grabe naman yan BBM, 21 pesos kada meal?” 

(That’s unbelievable, BBM — P21 per meal?)

Combined, their posts had 8,800 reactions, 4,100 comments, and 5,500 shares as of writing.

The facts: The quote is falsely attributed to Marcos. There are no credible reports or announcements where he or the Palace made this statement.

The P21-per-meal figure made rounds online in 2024. The figure is based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) 2023 poverty statistics, which pegged the food threshold — the minimum amount for a family to meet their basic food needs — at P9,581 a month for a family of five. That comes out to around P63 per person per day, or P21 per meal. 

At the time, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that individuals spending this amount and below for three meals a day are considered “food poor.”

Contrary to the claim, neither the Presidential Communications Office nor Marcos made any direct statement addressing the matter.

Rappler recently debunked a similar false claim that Marcos supposedly commented on the PSA’s 2025 poverty statistics, showing the poverty threshold at P96 per day.

Living standards: NEDA (now the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development) faced backlash in 2024 about the P21 per meal figure, with critics pointing out its unrealistic portrayal of how much Filipinos spend on food and the full picture of poverty in the Philippines.

The agency clarified that the P21 per meal metric does not reflect the cost of meals for a “decent standard of living” and is meant to serve as a measurement tool for the government’s poverty policies. (WATCH: Newsbreak Chats: The controversy over the so-called NEDA P21 meal)

In a statement in 2024, the agency’s secretary Arsenio Balisacan said, “They are not, and were never intended to be, prescribed budgets for a decent standard of living. They do not dictate how much a family should spend on food, nor do they provide an idea of a desirable household budget.” 

Meanwhile, the PSA said it would review the methodology for calculating the food poverty threshold, acknowledging that the P64 food budget per day is not reflective of actual food spending. – Eirene Manatlao/Rappler.com 

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