WHEN DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Roque claimed that P500 could finance a Noche Buena, she was not giving advice; she was actually exposing how detached public officials have become from the realities of ordinary Filipinos.
When she based her statement on her department’s official price guide, she forgot that Filipinos live on market prices, not on government charts that do not truly reflect the cost of living in supermarkets, groceries, wet markets, or even sari-sari stores.
When social media erupted with outrage, Filipinos weren’t just reacting to the amount; they were reacting to Roque’s insensitivity.
When families who now spend nearly P1,500 to prepare a modest Noche Buena hear a government official insist that P500 is enough, that is not providing a guide or an information but more like adding insult to injury.
When Secretary Roque chose to double down rather than admit error, she mirrored a larger disease among government officials who have grown to be allergic to humility and laced with their chronic refusal to apologize.
When public servants defend the indefensible, they send what appear to be a clear message: perception matters more than truth, and saving face is more important than facing facts.
When this becomes a rule rather than an exception among various government agencies, Filipinos begin to lose hope in the institutions that are tasked to help them achieve a better life.
When the Department of Health downplays the collapsing state of public hospitals where patients share beds and doctors buy their own gloves, it is the same denial in uniform.
When the Department of Education boasts of new curriculum even as thousands of students continue to study under trees or in flooded rooms, it is the same blindness to lived experiences.
When the Department of Transportation celebrates “modernization” while commuters endure hours in broken trains and overcrowded jeepneys, it is the same disconnect from the daily grind of workers.
When the Department of Public Works and Highways inaugurates roads that crack in less than a year or flood at the first rainfall, it is the same arrogance asked as accomplishment.
When the Department of Environment and Natural Resources touts its strict licensing or successful reforestation programs even as rivers turn black and mountains turn bald, it is the same illusion of progress.
When officials like Roque speak from podiums instead of public markets, they no longer see what the people see; they only see what reports tell them to believe.
When government leaders mistake criticism for hostility and cling to false pride instead of empathy, they betray the very people they serve.
When P500 is said to buy a Noche Buena, it’s not just a miscalculation but a metaphor for the poverty of understanding that has long plagued Philippine governance.
When our officials realize that humility costs nothing, only then can they practice the true meaning of public service.
