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Emmanuel Tupas - The Philippine Star
December 14, 2025 | 12:00am
Individuals buy from merchant partners selling various fresh vegetables and fruits at the “Lutong Bayan 2025: Pagkain Para sa Lahat!” World Food Day event at the Vinzons Hall of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on October 19, 2025.
STAR / Miguel de Guzman
MANILA, Philippines — The P500 Noche Buena meal for people on a tight budget can be achieved by buying products at government Kadiwa stores, an official of the Department of Agriculture said yesterday.
The issue of the P500 Noche Buena meal has been a hot topic, after the Department of Trade and Industry claimed that amount is enough for a meal to celebrate Christmas, a claim that has drawn flak from critics for being unrealistic.
Agriculture Undersecretary for agribusiness Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra said a family having a simple Noche Buena meal is achievable if people will buy products at their 740 Kadiwa outlets across the country.
Of these, 640 are considered as pop-up stores while 100 are regular stores.
She said people can buy a kilo of pork for about P300, which is lower than those in regular markets which are priced at P330 a kilo.
Chicken, meanwhile, is sold at P180 per kilo, lower by P20 than regular markets, which are priced at P200 for every kilo.
“I did not take into consideration other ingredients if you have a fully working kitchen,” Guevarra said in Filipino at a news forum in Quezon City.
For people on a tighter budget, there are cheaper vegetables for pancit such as cabbage and carrots which are sold at P50 per kilo, and potatoes at P60 per kilo.
“Not only have you helped the farmers, you’ve also saved on costs,” Guevarra said.
